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Mark Powell
S L
SKIL
S
ATE
EB
D
TOPIC
SECOND EDITION
in company
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE STUDENT’S BOOK WITH CD-ROM
Image:
The most immediate change is that the covers have changed and
throughout the Student’s Book the design and layout has been refreshed
and updated. There are many new pictures and images that give the whole
book a newer, fresher and more up-to-date image.
Structure:
In the original edition the contents page and units
were identified by one of four ‘buttons’ –
• Talking points
• Networking
• Deskwork
• Meeting
In addition to this five new case studies have been incorporated into the body of the
student’s book.
www.macmillanenglish.com/business
www.frenglish.ru
Content:
Each unit (except the Topic Debates) is accompanied by ‘Language links’ that
bring the grammar and vocabulary into the main body of the Student’s Book.
A phrase bank covering relevant vocabulary is provided in each unit for
reference and revision.
Some texts are now at the back of the book or divided for split reading tasks.
Approximately 40% of the content is new. The major content changes are in the
‘Topic Debate’ units (which were previously ‘Talking points’).
www.macmillanenglish.com/business
www.frenglish.ru
Contents
Unit Communication skills Reading and listening texts Language links
01 Discussing corporate entertainment Reading Information on four corporate events in the Vocabulary Small talk
Business or Sharing information to select appropriate UK Grammar Tense review
pleasure? corporate events for clients Listening People chatting at corporate events Phrase bank Making
p6 Avoiding saying ‘no’ conversation
Paying and receiving compliments
Keeping up a conversation
02 Describing attitudes to and content of meetings Listening A meeting: problems with a product Vocabulary Meetings
Exchanging Paraphrasing information Listening Five meetings: discrepancies Grammar Conditionals
information Pointing out discrepancies Listening The language of meetings Phrase bank Debating issues
p14 Dialogue-building using the language of meetings Reading Meeting: breaking bad news
Breaking bad news and writing a report
03 Discussing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Listening Business people talking about cultural
Do the right thing Playing devil’s advocate in a debate attitudes to CSR
p22 Making a series of decisions that are both ethically Reading Articles about getting the balance right
and commercially sound between satisfying shareholders and other stakeholders
Case study: Discussing ethical issues in investment Reading Television guide extract
Cash or Taking notes on statistics and graphically Listening Conversation at a television station
conscience? presented information Listening International teams of entrepreneurs present
p26 Judging international entrepreneurs pitching for their businesses to venture capitalists
seed capital
Making an investment decision
04 Doing a quiz on how to command attention Reading Articles on voice and visual impact Vocabulary Presentations
Voice and visuals Giving feedback on a presentation Listening Voicemail Grammar Modal verbs
p28 Using visuals in a presentation Listening Presenters giving information in different Phrase bank Describing and
Analysing the voice in presentations ways commenting on visuals
Giving a speech Listening Radio programme: drama for business
Listening
05 Discussing phone usage and its usefulness Reading Article on ‘chatterers’ Vocabulary Phone, fax and
Problems on the Dealing with ‘chatterers’ Listening Someone dealing with a ‘chatterer’ e-mail
phone Complaining and dealing with complaints Listening Someone dealing with a customer complaint Grammar Complex question
p36 Toning down ‘flames’ Listening People discussing a problem formation
Speculating about a problem Listening People solving a problem Phrase bank Small talk on
Solving problems on the phone the phone; getting down
to business on the phone;
requesting assistance on the
phone; offering assistance on
the phone; ending a call
06 Discussing dynamics of meetings Listening Radio programme: alternative approaches Vocabulary Companies and
Leading meetings Disagreeing diplomatically to meetings capital
p42 Chairing a meeting Reading Article on behaviour in meetings Grammar Linking and
Listening A meeting contrasting ideas
Phrase bank Chairing meetings
07 Discussing attitudes to teamwork Listening International project team leaders talk about
Games without Note-taking what they have learned about teamwork
frontiers Comparing cultural differences in transnational Listening Team members from different countries
p50 teams discuss their reactions to an international project
Comparing and contrasting research into the meeting
nature of teams Reading Articles on different ways of looking at
teamwork
Case study: Discussing parallels between sport and business Reading A sports magazine article
A winning Identifying problems within a dysfunctional team Reading Team member profiles
formula Collating information
p54 Making recommendations
08 Discussing attitudes to public speaking Listening Presenters talking about what makes them Vocabulary Phrasal verbs
Promoting your Describing what makes a good talk nervous Grammar The passive
ideas Discussing innovation in your company Listening People comparing audience expectations of Phrase bank Pitching an idea
p56 Presenting an idea for a product or service presentations
Reading Website extract: Intrapreneurs
Listening Presentation: a new idea
09 Discussing first impressions Reading Questionnaire: Are you an effective Vocabulary Social English
Relationship- Completing a questionnaire on networking networker? Grammar Multi-verb sentences
building Practising networking skills Reading Article on golf and business Phrase bank Networking
p64 Getting out of the office Listening Five short conversations
Visiting a colleague’s home Listening People chatting at golf
Listening Conversation: visiting someone’s home
4 contents
10 Discussing making decisions in difficult situations Reading Website extract: Worst-case scenarios Vocabulary Marketing and legal
Taking decisions Doing a quiz on life-and-death decisions Listening Advice on surviving worst-case scenarios English
p72 Giving advice on worst-case scenarios or Listening Decision-making meetings Grammar Articles
workplace dilemmas Reading Company crises Phrase bank Decision-making
Inserting missing articles in two texts Listening Case study: Coca-Cola crisis
Holding a crisis management meeting
13 Identifying effective presentation openings Reading Book extract on opening a presentation Vocabulary Metaphor
Making an impact Identifying rhetorical techniques Listening Presentation openings Grammar Rhetorical techniques
p94 Rephrasing to add impact Listening Extracts from political speeches Phrase bank Opening and
Identifying ways of closing a presentation Listening Closing remarks from four presentations closing a presentation
Producing a party political broadcast Reading Article on Bhutan
14 Discussing business travel and packing habits Reading Extracts from The Accidental Tourist Vocabulary Storytelling
Out and about Identifying ellipsis in conversation Listening People talking about their worst flying Grammar Narrative tenses
p102 Striking up a conversation experiences Phrase bank Sharing anecdotes
Telling an anecdote Listening Conversations over lunch
Chatting over a business lunch
15 Discussing the nature of leadership and Listening A management trainer defines leadership
First among ‘followership’ Reading Short book extract on leadership
equals Evaluating your own leadership potential Reading Quiz: Are you a good leader?
p110 Comparing cross-cultural attitudes to the role of Listening Executives from different countries discuss
leadership leadership styles
Deciding succession in a multinational company Reading Intercultural expert Fons Trompenaars
Reading Mini-profiles of eight business leaders
16 Discussing potential uses of tele- and Reading Website extract: Business benefits of Vocabulary Personnel and
Teleconferencing videoconferencing facilities TelePresence production
p116 Completing the minutes of a teleconference Listening An unexpected phone call Grammar Reporting
Holding a teleconference Listening An emergency teleconference Phrase bank Teleconferencing
Reading E-mails about a film shoot
Case study: Discussing the future of different professions Listening An in-company training session
The future’s Comparing different cultures attitudes to Listening A voicemail
unwritten uncertainty and risk-taking Reading Four future world scenarios
p136 Doing a STEP analysis of an industry
Scenario planning
contents 5
1 Business or pleasure?
All things being equal, people will buy from a friend. All things being not quite
so equal, people will still buy from a friend.
Mark McCormack, What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School
1 How important do you think it is to actually like the people you do business with?
2 Read these two short extracts from different business articles. Is the point they are making equally
valid in your country?
www.CareerBuilder.com
When Jack Welch
gave a guest lecture
A study at the Stanford University School of Business at MIT’s Sloan School
tracked MBAs ten years after they graduated. The of Management in
result? Grade point averages had no bearing on their 2005, someone in
success – but their ability to converse with others the crowd asked,
did. Being able to connect with others ‘What should we be
through small talk can lead to big things.
learning in business
school?’ Welch’s reply:
‘Just concentrate
on networking.
Everything else you
need to know, you
can learn on the job.’
Fortune magazine
3 How good are you at small talk? You are going to practise networking with a business contact.
a First, briefly note down some information about yourself in the chart below. Omit or change any of
the topics you want to.
Family Home
Interests
Current projects
Birthplace
Employer
Sports
Previous employers
Plans
Studies
Travels
Languages
6 01 Business or pleasure?
event, in the coffee break at a training seminar? Are you So, how are you enjoying …?
Isn’t this weather …?
enjoying yourself? How did you travel there? What’s the
I hear you … Is that right?
weather been like? What’s been happening in the news
I understand you used to …
lately?
Am I right in thinking you …?
c Swap personal information with your partner and use
Ah, I see. So, …?
this and the scene you built up in b as the basis for your
Oh, that’s interesting, because I …
conversation. How long can you keep the conversation
Really? That’s a coincidence!
going? The language in the conversation phrase bank
So, tell me more about …
may help you.
Is it true that …?
4 How did the conversation go? Which topics had the most Well, it’s been nice talking to you.
mileage? Did you find anything in common?
CORPORATE ENTERTAINMENT
1 The Japanese economy has had its ups and downs, but Japanese firms continue to spend around
$40 billion a year on corporate hospitality. Can that kind of money ever be considered well spent?
Should it be the first thing to cut in a recession? How can entertaining clients and colleagues be good
for business?
01 Business or pleasure? 7
MAKING CONVERSATION
1 1.02–1.03 Listen to some business people chatting at two corporate events and answer the questions.
Conversation 1
a What’s the connection between Helen Keating, James
McRae and Alan Sullivan?
b When Helen asks James ‘Mind if I join you?’, how does he
reply?
N a a . B m g .
c What excuse does Helen make for leaving the rest of the
party?
d Two of the following mean ‘That can’t be true.’ Which two?
You’re joking!
You’re fooling!
You’re kidding!
e Helen and James use several expressions to refer to
memories. Can you remember the first three words of each
expression? Contractions (it’s, you’re etc.) count as one word.
1 somewhere before?
2 me to forget a face.
3 recognised you.
4 back to me now.
5 remember spending most of the
evening fighting off some creepy little guy called Alan.
Conversation 2
a How would you describe relations between Mr Ishida and Mr Thompson?
warm amicable cordial cool strained frosty
b Mr Thompson uses the word ‘so’ five times during the conversation:
Why does he need to use it so often? What’s the equivalent word or expression in your own
language?
c Mr Ishida says he’s too old to play table tennis now. Mr Thompson replies ‘Oh, I’m sure that’s not
true.’ Is he:
paying Mr Ishida a compliment? calling him a liar?
d Mr Thompson tries to use his background knowledge to keep the conversation going. Complete his
remarks below.
1 I h you’re quite a tennis fan.
2 I u the Japanese are world table tennis champions.
3 I s the Nikkei’s looking strong. That m be good news for you.
4 I r somewhere that things were improving. Or a I mistaken?
e What word is Mr Ishida avoiding by saying the following?
Not at the moment, thank you. Not really. Not especially.
Not any more. As a matter of fact, ...
8 01 Business or pleasure?
n o
o o no- -nono o - n
o n o -nono o
2 Work with a partner. Practise avoiding saying ‘no’.
o o
n n n
o-o-nnooThe no- no-o-n
-n nono-no oo-nno no- o- -noo-n
n n game
Prepare
n n no n
Write down eight false (but believable) statements about yourself, your job, your family, your
interests, your company or your country. When you are ready, swap lists with a partner.
Play
Imagine the two of you are chatting at a conference or corporate event.
Take it in turns to make wrong assumptions about each other using the lists
as a starting point but adding remarks of your own if you can. Conversation phrase
bank
3 1.04–1.05 Listen to some business people chatting at the other two corporate events you
discussed and answer the questions.
Conversation 1
a What sort of people are the Hamiltons? Compare your impressions with a partner.
b Put the words in the following greetings and introductions in the correct order.
1 Dan call please me
2 meet last to both pleasure at a you
3 mentioned name Julian’s course your of
4 Fiona calling me mind do don’t you you you?
c It’s common when someone joins a group at a party to tell them a bit about the conversation you’ve
just been having. Complete the following:
discussing saying talking trying wondering
01 Business or pleasure? 9
Conversation 2
a Do Tom and Ricardo do a deal?
b What expression does Tom use to switch from discussing motor racing to discussing business?
T o races, how’s the South African bid going?
c Complete the expressions below. They were all in the conversation you just listened to. Contractions
(I’d, wouldn’t, who’s etc.) count as one word.
1 Glad make it.
2 I missed it for the world.
3 There’s like you to meet.
4 Can’t standing there with an empty glass.
5 So, person you wanted me to meet?
6 I two know each other already.
7 I’ll two to chat. See you later.
d What do the following remarks tell you about Ricardo and Élise’s relationship?
o n o
a bit.
n I’ll have whatever
t i i o n t i i o n you’re having.
5 They say ‘Flattery will get you everywhere.’ How important is it in your culture to
a pay people personal compliments?
b compliment them on their work?
Does it depend on how well you know each other or how senior you are? Is it different for men and
women? Can it ever be risky?
10 01 Business or pleasure?
6 According to Dale Carnegie, author of the all-time best-selling people skills book How to Win
Friends and Influence People, ‘You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in
other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.’ Work with a partner to
practise keeping up a conversation.
First choose just three ‘hot buttons’ from the list below – topics you are especially interested in talking
about, but don’t tell your partner what they are!
Then take turns to ask each other questions from the list. Whenever your partner asks you about one of
your hot buttons, you should speak enthusiastically about the topic for a minute or so. If the topic is not
hot, then just reply very briefly and ask your next question.
Whenever you or your partner hit a hot button, you score five points. When you miss, you lose one
point.
n s n s n
s s
The game ends after ten minutes or when one of you has hit all the other’s hot buttons. Whoever has the
o
t ns s ttos n o
t ns s ttos n o
most points at the end of the game is the winner.
t ns
t t
u ttotton buutton bu ttottonbuutton bu ttottont
t b ut bu othot b t ut buothot b t ut bu
b
o ot hoThe h hot b
obuttons
t ho h game b
o ot ho
h h h o Topic
h h Conversation starters Hot or not?
THE EVENT How are you enjoying ...? Hot/Not
Do you attend a lot of these things?
THE WEATHER Isn’t this weather ...? Hot/Not
Apparently, the forecast is for ...
WORK How’s business? Hot/Not
I hear ...
RECENT NEWS Have you heard about ...? Hot/Not
... news, isn’t it?
THE ECONOMY I see the stock markets are ... Hot/Not
It’s probably a good time to ...
SPORT Are you into sport at all? Hot/Not
Did you see the game/match on ...?
MUSIC What kind of music are you into? Hot/Not
Have you heard ...’s latest album?
MUTUAL FRIENDS Do you know ..., by the way? Hot/Not
S/he’s a bit/very ..., isn’t s/he?
MOVIES Have you seen any good films lately? Hot/Not
I quite liked …
BOOKS Have you, by any chance, read …? Hot/Not
I read quite a lot of …
TRAVEL Do you get to do much travelling? Hot/Not
Have you ever been to ...?
GADGETS Have you seen those new ...? Hot/Not
I wonder if they’re any good? I heard ...
CLOTHES/JEWELLERY I like your ... Where did you get it/them? Hot/Not
I suppose it/they must have cost you ...?
HOLIDAYS Have you been away this year? Hot/Not
I was/We were planning to go to ...
FOOD/DRINK Shall we get ourselves ...? Hot/Not
What would you like? How about ...?
01 Business or pleasure? 11
01 Business or pleasure? 2 Read the e-mail and underline the best grammatical
choice in each case.
LANGUAGE LINKS
Vocabulary: Small talk
From: Charles Wellcome
1 Put the conversation in the correct order.
To: Deborah Newton, Stephen Clark, Willem Maes, Tatiana
1 We were just talking about this new sports centre Korbutt
they’re building. Do you play any sport at all, Kim? Subject: This year’s client hospitality event
Not yet, no. Why, are you doing something?
Dear all
Against Real Madrid? No, I missed it. I had to go to a
As you (1) know / are knowing, the annual client
birthday party.
hospitality event (2) is fast approaching / will fast
No problem. Oh, before I forget. I’ve got two tickets to approach and, as yet, we (3) did not make / have
see them in Manchester if you’re interested. not made a final decision on where to hold it this
No, me neither. Talking of football, did you see the year. One or two of you (4) already came forward
match last night? / have already come forward with suggestions,
Oh, right. Thanks for telling me. Incidentally, have which (5) are currently considered / are currently
you still got my Rolling Stones CD? being considered, but, as we (6) will have to / are
having to make the necessary arrangements quite
Me? Well, not really. I used to play a bit of football.
soon, I’d like everybody’s input on this asap.
No, nothing special. By the way, sorry to talk business,
What I particularly (7) want / am wanting to avoid
but did you remember to send that estimate to Clive?
is a repetition of the fiasco we (8) had / have had
Pity. It was a great game. On the subject of parties, last year at the showjumping event. Apart from the
have you made any plans for New Year’s Eve yet? fact that very few of our clients (9) have / are having
Did you? Me too. I was never any good, though. even the remotest interest in the sport, the atrocious
Oops! Yeah, sorry. I meant to give it back to you. I’ll weather (10) meant / was meaning that we
bring in it tomorrow. Thanks for lending it to me. (11) walked / were walking backwards and forwards
Yeah, I sent it yesterday. Oh, that reminds me. Clive through the mud between the showring and the
hospitality tent all day. The whole thing (12) was
said to tell you he won’t be able to make Thursday’s
/ has been a complete disaster. People (13) still
meeting. He said he’d call you. complained / were still complaining about it six
13 Are you kidding? Of course I’m interested! I’ve never months later!
seen them live. This year we (14) have planned / had planned to
do something more cultural like go to the opera or
2 Find six expressions in 1 to guide the conversation or even a musical, but (15) I’ve wondered / I’ve been
change the subject. wondering if this is a good idea. A musical event
a I , ... (16) doesn’t seem / isn’t seeming to be the best
b T of ... place to network. We can hardly ask the singers to
c B the w , ... keep the noise down while we all (17) have / will
have a good chat!
d B If , ...
e T r me, ... I (18) do think / am thinking, however, that an
indoor event (19) makes / is making most sense, so
f O t s of ... can I ask you to (20) think / be thinking along those
lines over the next few days? (21) I’ve scheduled / I’d
3 Which words and phrases in 1 could you replace scheduled a meeting for next Friday to discuss the
with …? matter further. So, (22) I’m speaking / I’ll speak to
a Not so far. d Shame. you all then.
b Not to worry. e So did I. Charles
c Nor me. f Are you joking?
12 01 Business or pleasure?
You use the Present Simple to talk about permanent facts You use the Past Simple to talk about finished past actions
(I’m Spanish), routines (I get home at seven each evening) or states (I studied engineering at Oxford, I was a happy
and scheduled future (The bus gets in at one). child). Phrases like last week, a year ago, in 2006 etc. make
the time reference clear.
You use the Present Continuous to talk about current,
perhaps temporary, activities and situations (I’m staying at You use the Past Continuous to talk about an action in
the Hilton) or future arrangements (I’m flying to Rome in progress in the past (The company was losing money). The
the morning). Past Continuous gives the background to more important
events which are in the Past Simple.
You use the Present Perfect to talk about things that
started in the past and continue up to the present (It’s You use the Past Perfect to emphasise that one event
rained for a fortnight), personal experiences no matter happened before another in the past (By the time I left
when they happened (I’ve only ever snowboarded once) and college, I’d already decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer).
things which have an immediate consequence (I’ve lost my
Some ‘state’ verbs like think, know, understand and seem
car keys). Words like already, yet and since are often in the
are not generally used in the continuous form unless the
same sentence as a present perfect verb.
meaning is different: I think = I believe; I’m thinking = I’m
You use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about considering something.
things that started in the past and may be recently
will is a modal verb and, amongst its other uses, one of
completed or not yet completed (She’s been rearranging
many ways of talking about the future (I’ll see you later).
her office, I’ve been working here since January 2002).
01 Business or pleasure? 13
2 Read the well-circulated web joke below. Is this anything like the meetings you take part in? What
are some of the current 'buzzwords' in your line of business?
You can:
• catch up on the latest gossip • practise all the latest buzzwords
• bitch about work • offload nasty jobs onto absent colleagues
• flirt • reschedule missed deadlines
• take a nap during PowerPoint • postpone decisions
presentations • feel important
• share whatever's on your mind • And all in work time!
- - - ~-
4 :, ·1.06 You're going to play a game that's become popular with bored executives the world over -
buzzword bingo! First, turn to page 139 to choose a bingo card, Then listen to a manager, fresh from a
management training seminar, talking at a meeting and cross off the buzzwords as he uses them. The
first person to cross them all off and shout 'Bingo!' wins the game.
I 02 EXCHANGJNG INFORMATl.ON
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5 Some of the things you might really want to discuss in an information-sharing meeting are listed
below, but the second word in each collocation has been switched with another. Switch them back. The
first two have been clone for you,
production mar=g·nsquality campaigns customer budgets
balance appraisals sales chains recruitment setting
market channels advertising control salary support
staff sheets cost development training relations
profit methods supply projections price procedures
distribution trends product cutting IT reviews
6 Work with a partner. Take turns to explain one of the terms in 5 and see if your partner can guess
which one it is. How many can you get right in two minutes?
Example
It's predicting how many products you think you'll sell.
'Market trends'?
No.
Oh, you mean 'sales projections'?
Right.
American Brazilian British Chinese French German Indian Italian Japanese Russian
4 8
10
Direct Indirect
Barry Tomalin and Mike Nicks, The World's Business Cultures and How to Unlock Them
2 In meetings, especially in indirect cultures, people are sometimes reluctant to say exactly what they
mean - especially if they have bad news! Match the vague statements to their blunter equivalents.
Vague Blunt
a I'm serry· lo report that the project has not been a 1 Our assembly plant may be
eemplere success. closed down too.
b Tet:;lilnicolly speoking, we have run· into negative profit. 2 Sales are falling.
c 'I fhi,;ik th!')re's·q general lesk of consumer cQr:ifidence. 3 People are going to lose their
d Ye1:1 ~rl'ow we.'v.e olweys been a mcrket-driven jobs.
organi,safton. 4 It's failed.
e N0w i:s not the time to expand, hut to consolidate. 5 We'll have to hold another
ff Tfuere will hove to be some restructuring of the meeting!
deportment. 6 We've made a loss.
Ill We may also hove to consider ouJsourcing production 7 Let's do nothing.
to 'OUt costs. 8 We've never had an original
h Of eou~s~, we won't be able to fir;islise @nything to~ay, idea.
3 ~ "1 .07 A computer games company has had problems with its latest product. Listen to an extract
from their meeting and check your answers in 2.
02 EXCHANGING INFORMATION I
www.frenglish.ru
4 Can you summarise the meeting you just listened to using the notes below? Listen again if you
need to.
5 Work with a partner. Take turns to read out the vague statements below. The other person should
paraphrase them in a more direct way using the expressions in the box and the words in brackets.
In other words, ... So what you're (really) saying is ... What you (really) mean is ... You mean ...
2 Work with a partner to practise pointing out discrepancies. Speaker A see page 138. Speaker B see
page 148.
3 ~ 1.09 Listen to an extract from a meeting. A CEO is breaking some bad news to the board. When
the conversation pauses, write the board members' queries and comments using the notes in brackets to
help you. Then continue listening and check. The first one has been done for you as an example.
a (say/fall short/projections again?)
Are you saying they've fallen short of projections again?
b (suggest/introduce/price cuts?)
c (surely/not say/time/phase them out!)
d (this mean/should/invest more/new technology?)
e (tell us/could be layoffs?)
f (mean some kind/job-share scheme?)
g (so/say/should/spend more/R&D)
h (this mean/think/centralise distribution?)
(hope/not suggest/situation/hopeless)
I 02 EXCHANGING INFORMATION
www.frenglish.ru
4 The follo« ing phrases and expressions \\Tl-C all in the meeting vou just listened to. Can you reverse
the meaning of each bv changing the word orw ords in hold? The first one has heen clone for you as an
example.
a disappointing figures
encouraging figures
h fall short of projections
c 30% clown
cl miss our targets
e price cuts
f run at a loss
g phase them out
h keep costs clown
major restructuring
J the unions oppose it
k slide into cle ht
l centralise cli stribu ti on
m overseas distributors
n an all-time low
o inflated prices
P volatile markets
5 'I 'urn to page 164. l .ook at the script of the meeting vou listened to in 3 and answer the questions.
a How manv examples of conditional sentences and expressions are there?
h Apart from ii ,»; hich three words are used to link the conditional to the main clause?
c Only one of the conditional sentences refers to the past. Which one?
cl \Vlw is the past tense used in the following example from the meeting?
Even if we decided to do that, and it's a big if it would take time to implement.
e If onl» it was that simple (line 24) means:
I wish it w as that simple. D I doubt it's that simple. D
f vVe 're not real fr in a position to invest in cmvthing, even if we wanted to (lines 24-2 5) means:
\Ve dou't w ant to invest in am•thing. D
\Vanting to invest would make no difference. D
www.frenglish.ru
a A scheduling meeting
A Right. Basically, the is this: the contract is ours if we want it.
B But we're not in a to take on another project right now, are we?
A I know. Jan, what's your on this?
b An IT meeting
A Look, it's not just a of software, Alessandro.
B Of course not. It's also a of hardware. The entire system needs upgrading.
A But that's out of the We can't afford that kind of capital outlay.
c A marketing meeting
A Sales are down. One would obviously be to cut our prices.
B That's no longer an for us. We're barely breaking even as it is.
A Well, then we've no but to rethink our whole marketing strategy.
d An HR* meeting
A Well, there's no easy to this, but how about voluntary redundancy?
B I don't think that's the but maybe we could reduce people's hours.
A That might have been the if we didn't already have a strike on our hands!
e A strategy meeting
A Now, let's not make a out of this. What if we just pulled out of Sudan?
B Well, I've no with that, but our partners won't be happy.
A No, but that's not our is it? The political situation is just too unstable.
f A CRM** meeting
A I'll get straight to the We're getting too many customer complaints.
B I agree with you. But the is we don't have the staff to deal with them.
A That's beside the We shouldn't be getting them in the first place!
g A crisismeeting
A I'm afraid the is serious. And if the press get hold of the story, ...
B Look, we'll deal with that if and when it arises. Let's not panic just yet.
A You're right. What this calls for is calm and careful planning.
h A budget meeting
A The is, we're simply not spending enough on R&D.
B As a matter of we've doubled our R&D budget this year.
C That may be so, but the remains we're losing our technological lead.
I * Human Resources
**Customer Relationship Management
--
---~...
.,....
~
l.
www.frenglish.ru
3 No-v decide which of the \\ orcls in the box on page 141 wi]! complete the folloc ing and match them
to what thex mean.
a That's a matter of _ .. . ... You're 11-rong!
b l think that raises a different I disagree!
c Yes, but look at it from my point of That's unimportant'
cl Actuai]v, that might not be a bad That's irrelevant'
e That's not an ... _ ... _ ...... Good point!
f What ga1·e you that .... ? What about me?
1 Your compan)· was recently acquired by a former I've been asked to il'lf9rrn yow
that... ·
competitor in a hostile takeover. The new board of directors
It seems/appearsthat ...
has decided it's time for a serious shake-up. Each of vou has
I'm afraid that .•
been chosen to announce at a special interdepartmental
It's felt that ...
meeting some of the changes they 11 ould like to see
The following options are being
implemented. Speaker A turn to page 139. Speaker B turn to explored ...
page 148. Speaker C turn to page 152. The phrase bank mav The suggestion is that .•.
help vou prepare. The basic idea is to ...
In addition, what's beinq proposed
2 \Vhen you're ready, take turns in vour group to present the is ...
proposals. They could be controversial, so: This would obviously mean ...
3 Write a memo to the hoard outlining the reactions to the proposals you presented at vour meeting.
www.frenglish.ru
I 02 EXCHANGINGINFORMATION
www.frenglish.ru
F I'd be grateful ... You can use any tense in either half (clause) of a
1 if you could sort this out for me. conditional sentence.
2 if you'd keep this to yourself.
As well as if, unless, as long as and providing/provided
3 if you don't tell anyone about this.
(that), you can also use and as a conjunction in a
4 if you remembered that in future.
conditional (Do that and we'll get complaints) or no
conjunction at all (Do that- we'll get complaints).
g If he actually said that to her, ...
1 she'd kill him. Conditional clauses can come either first or second in
2 I'd have been very surprised. the sentence. However, with and or no conjunction,
3 it was very stupid of him. conditional clauses come first.
4 he must have been mad. You can put will or would in the conditional clause (If
you'll wait here, I'll go and get her for you; I'd be grateful
h I wouldn't have asked you ... if you'd give this matter your serious attention), but this is
1 ifl didn't think you could do it.
unusual.
2 unless I trusted you.
3 ifl'd known this would happen. The Past Simple in a conditional can refer to the past
4 if you didn't say you wanted to do it. (Even if I did meet her, I'm afraid I don't remember her),
to a future possibility (If I resigned tomorrow, I could get
1 If it hadn't been for him, ... another job within the week) or to an unreal situation (If!
1 I'd still be working at Burger King. spoke Italian, I'd phone her myself, but I don't).
2 I'd have got that job. Conditionals with the Past Perfect can refer to the effects
3 we might never have found out. of the past on the more recent past (If you'd made a
4 I hadn't had a chance. backup, we wouldn't have lost the whole document) or on
the present (If I'd got that job, I could be earning a fortune
now).
02 EXCHANGING INFORMATION I
www.frenglish.ru
Don't be evil.
OFFICIAL MANTRA AT GOOGLE
3 Which is a greater corporate responsibility: to do well or to do good? Do priorities change when the
econornv is in recession and competition intensifies?
2 Now write short definitions for the terms you didn't underline. Compare them with the ones on
page 158.
In this enlightened day and age, whether times are good or bad, companies must
be socially responsible. That's a given. But tough economic conditions underscore
a blunt reality. A company's foremost responsibility is to do well. That may sound
politically incorrect, but the reason is inexorable. Winning companies create jobs,
pay taxes and strengthen the economy. Winning companies, in other words, enable
social responsibility, not the other way around. Leaders today need to pin down, for
themselves and their employees, CSR's place among the company's priorities.
CSR can play a powerful part in recruiting talent, retaining talent and keeping
up morale. But how should companies think about CSR with margins narrowing,
layoffs rampant and consumers embracing the 'new
frugality?' Moreover, when you're letting people go • Glossary
with one hand, doling out checks to 'worthy causes' with the other underscore emphasise
Suzji' and Jack Welch
:alltllors of Winning, is hard to rationalize. When most consumers have good, secure jobs, foremost main
fqfme'i' editor-in-chief expecting them to pay more for an eco-friendly product makes sense. inexorable inescapable
of the Harvard Business With bank accounts drained, it's a tough sell. That doesn't mean the margins narrowing
profits getting smaller
l{evi~W and former CEO era of 'socially responsible' products is over. It just means increasingly
rampant widespread
,cf General Electric intense cost pressures on the companies selling them.
frugality economising
~pe~if(~Y. CSR belongs in every company. But every company must face reality. doling out distributing
You have to make money first to give it away. drained empty
We'lle: hi!' downturns in the last twenty-five to thirty years and corporate responsibility has not
Bt!n thrown out of the window. When the upturn comes and you need to get people back, the
bfist ~Le, the most skilled people, are going to be looking at the companies that kept going,
Die companies who are consistent, who really said we care and followed through on that care.
you tome into a work environment that connects you with the world where you want to see
tu:tio"1S! delivered, you're going to feel that this work environment is something that's about my
le per5o.n. Work is transformed from being the duty of the function I must perform into the
patt\ln]l:)/.to make a powerful difference in the wider world around me.
Uhinit: we have moved from corporate philanthropy and the giving of money towards a much
re strategic approach, about understanding impact and the investing of time right through to
big global dilemmas like climate change and environmental
responsibility. And the next area that is being talked about
in this rapid movement of corporate citizenship is the role Lord Michael Hastings
of corporations in conflict resolution, in the investment that Global Head of Citizenship
companies can make in troubled areas of the world to provide and Diversity, KPMG
jobs and security. Politics needs more of the skills of business
citizenship CSR
and business needs more of the sense of purpose of politics.
_ RPlitk~lly f economically unstable
~ Glossary
I think everybody agrees that by 2050 we're going to need at least sustain support
another planet to sustain our current levels of consumption. The thrive do well
truth is that today we have not enough fish, not enough forest, not tackle deal with
enough water, an unstable climate and we're six and a half billion hand all the
people. Come 2050, we're going to be nine billion. So what are the accountability give all the
prospects for businesses and organisations to thrive in that sort of responsibility
environment? NGOs non-governmental
organisations
If we're going to tackle these global challenges, whether it's health, absolve yourself of
whether it's poverty, whether it's HIV AIDS, whether it's malaria, responsibility claim it's
whether it's climate change, whether it's deforestation, a very large not your responsibility
part of the solution is going to be from business.
Now, it is wrong, I think, to completely hand all the accountability to business because you start to
wonder, well, what is government for? But I think, if you look at NGOs, businesses and governments,
it is, of course, business that has the greatest resources and know-how to be able to tackle these
changes. And if you look at a company like Coca-Cola, they're the biggest employer in Africa, so
Blinfi"an May clearly they have a huge amount to give to Africa issues, such as HIV AIDS. You know, if you're an
Manaqing, Director, oil company, you can either take a path that recognises climate change and addresses it or you can
Ptarief 2050 choose to effectively absolve yourself of responsibility.
03 DO THE RIGHTTHING I
www.frenglish.ru
Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision? Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision?
Yes, the PR advantages outweigh the financial We need to offer employees a re-employment package
considerations. Let's go ahead. I suggest a quota of I0%. and invest heavily in the regenerationof the region after
Wait a minute. Let's not be hasty. I suggest we set up a closure.
study group to look into other ways of promoting diversity. We don't want to make any commitments we can't
c This is nothing more than a trendy positive discrimination honour, but clearly we must negotiate a rescue plan with
exercise to make the government look good. Nol local NGOs.
c We should offer good severance pay and some retraining,
but we can't afford more in today's economic climate.
Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision?
.. We should encourage this kind of initiative. Offering it to all a Let's set up a quality circle to work out a plan for phasing
employees is also a way of attracting and retaining talent. out the existing procedures within eighteen months.
This should only be a reward for outstanding performance n We don't know exactly what form the legislationwill take
or long service to the company and must have job yet. Let's see what our competitors do first.
relevance. c We've had no complaints from the shop floor. Changes
c We should allow career breaks, but not paid. As a donor cost money and man-hours, so why do any(hing?
to many charities we alreadyfulfil our obligations in that
area.
Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision? Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision?
www.frenglish.ru
y :1120
Winning the support of the local council is a separate a We're taking no risks with our employees' health and
issue. We should withdraw our bid on the site to help a safety. Authorise a complete overhaul of the system.
local charity. Let's get a waste management consultant in to see if it's
If we play our cards right, we can do ourselves a favour actually worth making any major changes.
both in terms of PR and our factory expansion plans. c If we got through the last health and safety check, things
r; This is a preposterous idea and no way to do business! can't be too bad. But if we're losing money, that's a
And we don't need to bribe councillors to get planning problem.
permission.
Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision? Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision?
Our union rep is right. We can't call ourselves socially a We can't be seen to be condoning corruption in any part
responsible unless we adjust our pension fund. of our organisation. We know the distributor is guilty. Pull
We obviously need specialist financial advice and any out.
changes we make would have to be phased in gradually. It would be unethical to make a move until we're certain
c There's not much chance of workers agreeing to a strike of the position. But, once we know, we must act
when our current fund is doing so well. Why do anything? immediately.
,. We need that distributor, so we stick with them until proven
guilty. In fact, can't we use our influence to prevent that?
Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision? Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision?
a This is a straightforward ethical decision ~ we cease to be Clear the area of TV crews, initiate a precautionary
a supplier to Colbert as of nowl evacuation and set up an emergency press conference.
We are the victims here, not the criminals! We should sue Let's stay calm and leave crowd control to the police,
Colbert for breach of contract, but continue to supply while we conduct our tests. We don't want to overreact.
them. c Play for time while we sort out the environmental and legal
c Since none of this is public knowledge, we should implications of the accident. Admit nothing at thi~ stage.
negotiate with Colbert behind the scenes to get the deal
we want.
Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision? Which stakeholders might support/oppose your decision?
www.frenglish.ru
1 Do you have any personal investments or savings plans? Do you know how your money is actually
invested? Do you care or are you mostly just interested in getting a good return?
2 All things being equal, are there particular types of company you'd like to see your money help to
finance? Are there certain sorts of company you'd be uncomfortable about being involved with, no
matter how sound the investment? Compare views with the rest of your group.
3 The Lion's Share is a hugely popular American reality 1V show. Read the television guide extract
below to find out more and answer the following questions:
a Why is the programme called The Lion's Share?
b What kind of business people appear on the show?
c What are the best- and worst-case scenarios for the contestants?
___ .....
__ ....
@ @)
5 How far do you agree with Malcolm Carter's recommendations? Does it make sense for a more
socially responsible agenda to be allowed to influence the judgement of the 'lions' on the show? Why
(not)?
7 1.27-1..30 J .rsten 1·0 1·l1c: entrepreneurs' pitches and c·.\p:,111cJ 011 tlic notes l.elo«. Then confer 11-i1:h
\f( n tr gr()JJ p.
9 Now turn ·10 page 15(1 io see how )'Cnir investmentsturned out,
1 When you stand up to speak in public, what keeps an audience interested in what you're saying?
Expertise or enthusiasm? Visual impact or vocal range? PowerPoint or natural presence?
2 You are going to read about power and public speaking. First test your communicative awareness
below by underlining the correct information.
3 Work with a partner to check your answers in 2. Each read a different web article opposite. Then
share your information.
4 Do any of the points mentioned in the articles surprise you? If true, what are the implications for a
business presenter?
200,000
GIVING FEEDBACK
1 Work with a partner to practise giving and receiving feedback on a presentation. Speaker A see page
140. Speaker B see page 162.
2 ~ 1.31 Listen to the voicemail from your Taiwanese client following the presentation in 1. Discuss
his reaction with a partner.
VISUALS
1 When you give presentations, what visuals do you use?
Death by PowerPoint
Are you risking 'Death by PowerPoint'? This is when
you inflict on your defenceless audience endless
bullet-pointed slides, keywords and clipart that look
pretty, yet cumulatively create a numbing effect and
loss of impact. Beware of spending more time on the
technology than on preparing yourself. Remember,
you are the presentation.
3 All the expressions below can be used to comment on a visual in a presentation. Complete them
using the verbs in the box.
draw give have learn mention notice point put see show
4 Draw a simple graph or chart relating to an interesting aspect of the business you're in, or the
company you work for or your country's economy. Use some of the expressions in 3 to present it to the
class.
5 There's more to visual aids than just PowerPoint. Reorganise the words in bold to ma~e correct
sentences.
a OK, lights run dim the let's and the video.
b OK, to live with a go link-up let's our team in Dubai.
c OK, set short up we've product a demo we'd like to show you.
d OK, minute samples in handing we'll a be out for you to look at.
e OK, online let's and a go look closer take at how the website works.
VOICE
1 How might pausing sometimes be the most effective thing a speaker can do? Read what
communication expert Courtland Bovee has to say about the power of the pause.
A pause is more than just a way to vary your speaking rate. It's also an important way to
add emphasis and meaning to selected phrases and sentences. You can insert a pause to
allow an audience a moment to think about an idea, to indicate a shift to a new idea or
to a new section of your speech, or to heighten anticipation of your next idea.
From Contemporary Public Speaking by Courtland L. Bovee
2 ~ 1.32 Listen to three presenters speaking in different ways. Decide which presenter sounds
1 fluent and confident
2 fluent but boring
3 hesitant.
a There's a whole market in Eastern Europe just there for the taking.
b Quite frankly, the results we've been getting are absolutely incredible.
c Now, I'm sure I don't need to tell you just how crucial this is.
d Net profits are up ninety-seven per cent - yes, ninety-seven per cent.
e Would you believe that so far we've not been able to sell a single unit?
f Miss this deadline and we'll lose the biggest client this company's ever had.
5 ~ 1.33 Work with a partner. Listen again to the fluent and confident versions. One of you should
mark the pauses like this: I The other should underline the stressed words. Compare your results. What's
the connection between where we pause and what we stress?
7 ~ 1.35 According to Swedish businessman Jan Carlzon, 'All business is show business.' Listen to an
extract from a radio programme on how several training companies have taken his opinion literally, and
discuss the questions.
a Would William Freeman's advice help you face a business audience?
b What does Michael Lame think classically trained actors can teach business people?
c According to Richard Olivier, what makes someone a brilliant speaker?
cl Which of the trainees' opinions would be closest to your own?
8 Work with a partner to make your Shakespearian debut! Choose one of the Shakespeare speeches
opposite and take turns to be the actor and director. Don't worry - the speeches have been slightly
modernised!
• Decide where you are going to pause - mark short pauses like this: I , longer pauses like this: II and
very long pauses like this: 111
• Underline the words you are going to stress: usually nouns and verbs, but sometimes, for dramatic
effect, you can stress pronouns and conjunctions.
• Highlight in different colours parts of the text you really want to project, even shout, and parts you
want to say quietly or perhaps whisper.
• Try the speech a few times, the actor speaking, the director giving advice and feedback. When you
are ready, have fun performing it!
9 ~ 2.01-2.02 Listen to the speeches in 8. How does your performance compare with the recorded
version?
10 Prepare a 90-second presentation on a work or business topic that is important to you. Try to keep
some of the power and drama from your Shakespeare speech in your voice as you present.
~.I
2 Complete the conversation using the modal verbs in have to, have got to and must mean there's an obligation to
the box. do something.
can't can't could have could have 'II 'II might don't have to and haven't got to mean there's no obligation
must must have needn't have shouldn't won't to do something.
would have wouldn't
mustn't means there's an obligation not to do something.
A Ivan, ( 1) ---··- . ,. Alexis be here by now? It's gone four! I needn't have done means I did something but it wasn't
B Yeah, she (2) . got held up somewhere. necessary; I didn't need to do means it wasn't necessary so I
A But (3) ~ she have phoned? didn't do it.
B Well, you ( 4) . . .. thought so.
A I mean, we're only having this meeting for her benefit. would do means used to do for repeated past actions.
If she doesn't come soon, we (5) ..... _ bothered. She should have left means I expect she's left or She's
B Quite, though I (6) __ think what (7) supposed to have left or It would have been a good idea if
held her up. I (8) _ · ·-···ring her and see what's she'd left.
going on. That's funny, I (9) find her number.
I (10) _ sworn I put it in my diary. It (11) You use was able to (not could) to talk about a specific past
achievement.
be in here somewhere!
A. Well, if you ask me, she ( 12) be coming now, That must be him is the opposite of That can't be him.
anyway.
will is the most versatile modal verb and can be used for
B Hang on. That (13) __ just be her now. I
offers, spontaneous decisions, assumptions, predictions
(14) ... _ .. go and check.
and to express willingness or determination.
CONCLUSIONS
Most people spend more time and energy goingaround problems than in trying
to solve them.
HENRY FORD, FOUNDER OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY
1 It's been said that 'When the phone rings, there's usually a problem on the other end of it.' What sort
of problems do people phone you with at work? Share examples with a partner.
>- Glossary
chatterbox person who talks a lot
about unimportant matters
2417 24 hours a d~y. 7 days a week
3 Do you agree with the writer of the article that small talk on the phone wastes time at work?
4 ~ 2.03 Listen to someone trying unsuccessfully to get a caller off the phone. Raise your hand when
you hear them use one of the 'getting rid' expressions mentioned in the article you just read.
L
I 05 PROBLEMS ON THEPHONE
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5 Work with a partner to practise dealing with a chatterbox. Speaker A see page 140. Speaker B see
page 147.
2 When was the last time you made a formal complaint about something? Was it in person, in writing
or on the phone? Were you satisfied with the way it was handled? Tell a partner about it.
3 Put the following stages of handling a customer complaint into the most likely order:
D • suggest possible solutions
• get the details
• end on a positive note
• agree on a course of action
• greet and reassure the caller
• listen and empathise
05 PROBLEMS ON THEPHONE I
www.frenglish.ru
6 A 'flame' is an angry or insulting e-mail. Have you ever received or been tempted to write one?
7 Work with a partner. Read the flames you and your partner wrote below and take turns to hold the
telephone conversations that might have followed. Caller, be as direct as you like. Receiver, try to calm
the caller down and deal with their complaint.
Why do you never answer your phone? For the third time this week.WHERE IS
May I suggest you turn your MP3 off OUR ORDER?
occasionally?
We ordered $15,000 of shirts from you
What I want to know is, are you making any three - yes, three - months ago and so far
progress on the Samsung report or not? what have you sent us? That's right, nothing!
And if not, why not? No, don't even bother Not even so much as an e-mail to explain
answering that. I already know you've been why it's taking so long. This is an utter
far too busy with more important matters disgrace.
to even get round to starting it. Correct?
You call yourselves the world's leading
Look, I asked you to type up this report promotional products company and you
ages ago and you know full well I've got can't even manage to organise 6,000 polo
to have it for Thursday's meeting with the shirts with a simple company logo on.
'death squad' from head office. Frankly, it's pathetic. I notice you had no
problem debiting our account for the
This is the second time you've fouled things
$15,000, though.
up and I'll be reminding you of that when
your probationary period finally ends. I'm sure it's too much to expect an apology,
but if I don't see those shirts within the
So, I'll ask you once again. WHEN WILL THE
next 48 hours, I'll see you in court. GOT IT?
SAMSUNG REPORT BE READY?
8 Rewrite the e-mail you sent in 7 to make it more polite but equally assertive. Use the prompts below
to help you.
a Unfortunately I unable I reach I phone b again writing I regard I order I ref no 099X
Can I tell I managing I make I progress I records show I order I $15,000 I shirts I placed
Samsung report? //having I problems I please three months I but so far I received anything//
let I know I soon I possible// understand I been Nor I sent I e-mail explaining I reason I delay//
preoccupied I other matters I may not I even I afraid I quite unacceptable
made a start yet I although I hope I not I case You advertise I world's leading promotional
did ask I some time ago I this report I as you products company// therefore I find I inability
know I do need /urgently I Thursday's meeting I take care I simple order like this both
I people I head office surprising I disappointing// notice I however I
not I first time /let me down I consequently were more efficient I debiting I account I sum I
I shall have I discuss I matter I when I $15,000
probationary period ends should like I delivery / 48 hours f together I
really must know today how I longer I going I apology// Otherwise I no alternative I hand I
take matter over /legal department //hope I made
myself clear
9 Exchange the rewritten e-mails with your partner and hold the two telephone conversations again.
How do these calls compare with the ones you had in 7?
I 05 PROBLEMS ON THEPHONE
www.frenglish.ru
TACKLING PROBLEMS
1 ~ 2.05 Listen to an overheard telephone
conversation. Take notes and, with a partner,
try to work out what the problem is.
It sounds like ...
It seems as though ...
There's been some kind of ... ,by the sound of it.
I'm not (exactly) sure whether ... or whether ...
It's definitely something to do with ...
6 Match the halves of the following sentences. You heard them all in 5.
a Can you get hold ~ of sending someone else out here?
b I don't suppose to have a phone number for the promotions people?
c Do you happen getting some brochures to me in Polish?
d Is there any chance of the organisers?
e I'll check what I can do, but I can't promise anything.
f I'll see with Liz and see if she can spare Kim for a few days.
g Would you mind you remembered to put another CD player in?
7 Work with a partner to practise solving problems on the phone. Speaker A see page 141. Speaker B
see page 149.
OSPROBLEMS ON THEPHONE I
www.frenglish.ru
1
~~Ir::!~~~ :a:a!~::~~o:~ot~:k~~~~h~ngsyou could say to encourage a bit of small talk - ..
durin~ a business call. Contractions (You're, How's etc.) count as one word.
1
'1l life I business I the family I it going I the new job I your golf doing I your course going?
b doing I keeping I enjoying Paris I getting on in Manila I settling down in
Seville? I settling in at Goldman Sachs?
c the promotion I the new baby I winning the Dubai contract I finally getting your
MBA!
~ moving house I getting married I about to visit Russia L about to sign a
deal with Samsung, is that right?
.e been on holiday I come back from Buenos Aires I opened a new office
in Cologne?
f the news I the latest I from Ron lately I about the Asian situation?
!i job on the Siemens report I luck with presentation tomorrow, by the way!
d
c Ie
w
y
t
c
y
a
t t--·. m ~_J l
R~q:uesti.ng assistance on the phone
f'i11l ~he words in bold in the correct order. - Direct
Ending a call
foc11 sentence-ending in bold has been switched with another. Switch them back to make eight
111111s oT ending a call.
a I mi isl n 'l let you go now.
b fll let you get together soon.
e Someuni:i'~ just come in on the other line
d \. e must get on,
e ll\ fo~ch great running a bit late.
f rn h~we to keep you.
g l'v~ griil a call just stepped into the office.
h bisrun, I'm talking to you.
1 How much influence do you have at the meetings you participate in? When it comes to meetings,
would you rather lead, follow or simply get out of the way?
2 Think about a regular meeting you attend and consider the following:
• Who is the most powerful person in the room? Does he/she actually lead the meeting?
• What are the seating arrangements - fixed or flexible?
• Does anyone tend to dominate the discussion? Is that ever a problem?
• Are there people who hardly speak at all? If so, why are they there?
• Who, if anyone, is the most 'dangerous' person in the room?
Explain to a partner how the meeting works. A simple diagram may help you.
3 Combine one word from each box to make ten common problems encountered in meetings. Do
you have similar problems in your meetings?
6
2 7
3 8
4 9 --··-·"· -·-···'
5 10
06 LEADING MEETINGS
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5 Five alternative approaches successful companies have taken to the problem of meetings are listed
below. What do you think they might involve?
a the non-stop meeting d the democratic meeting
b the mobile meeting e the virtual meeting
c the recreational meeting
6 ~ 2.08 Listen to an extract from a business news programme and match the approaches in 5 to the
companies that have adopted them.
Federal Express D
another.com D
Xerox Corporation D
Michaelides & Bednash Media D
St. Luke's Advertising D
7 Could any of the ideas in 6 work in your company? Would any be thought ridiculous?
CHAIRING SKILLS
1 Complete the following and compare with the other members of your group.
A meeting without a chairperson is like a ... without
<1
2 Complete the collocations by writing the nouns and noun phrases in the right-hand boxes. They are
all things the leader of a meeting might do.
open g bring in
I a close shut out
I b welcome
introduce
h anticipate
avoid
I c
set
stick to Ii
identify
discipline
I d ask for
summarise
work out
draw up
I e
establish
define
k prioritise
assign
06 LEADING MEETINGS I
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3 What, in vour opinion, is the single most important task of a chairperson? Read the article below,
Does the author agree\\ ith vou?
~ Glossary
tepee tent used by Native
Americans
tribe ethnic or cultural group
blaring making a loud noise
4 I low clo you think Michael Begeman would describe the ideal meeting' You mav want to refer to
some of the terms in the box.
I 06 LEADING MEETINGS
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5 In the article, Begeman points out that although 'there are some genuine disagreements' in the
meeting, 'Everyone recognises merit in everyone else's position and tries to incorporate it into his
thinking.' How can you avoid upsetting people you disagree with? How important is it in your culture
for people to 'save face'?
6 Match the examples on the right to the disagreement strategies they exemplify.
OandD 2 OandD 3 OandD 4 OandD 5 OandD
7 In informal meetings with people you know well, you can use simpler expressions to show you
disagree, but if there are problems, it is usually better to be more formal and explicit. Match the
informal expressions below to the strategies in 6.
Go on. I'm listening. D
Yeah, but ... D
Hm, well, how about this instead? D
I'm not with you. D
OK, but just one thing. D
MANAGING MEETINGS
1 :i 2.09-2.11 A venture capital firm is discussing the start-up company it had talks with last week.
Listen to three extracts from their meeting and answer the questions.
Extract 1
a Who's absent from the meeting and why?
b What are the two main goals of the meeting?
Extract 2
a What's the main area of conflict in the meeting?
b Who do you think the main troublemaker is?
c Whose side is Tania on - Pieter's or Jack's?
Extract 3
a What follow-up tasks are assigned?
b Does timeofyourlife.com's business plan sound good to you?
c In your opinion, how effective was the chairman of the meeting?
06 LEADING MEETINGS I
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·.~ -_,:\II'·-,
2 You heard the following idiomatic expressions in 1. Complete them by filling in the missing letters.
Use the words in brackets to help you.
a I wanted his in __ ... on this one. (I wanted to hear his views)
b We're interested in taking things fu _ . (We'd like to progress with this deal)
c I don't want us ru.c..; into anything. (We need to think about this carefully)
d We've been th __ .. this. (We've discussed this in depth many times before)
e The fi . don't quite add up. (the financial part of a proposal is suspect)
3 The following expressions are all useful in chairing meetings. Complete them by filling in the
missing vowels.
Opening the meeting
a K, I t's g t st rt d, th n, sh II w ?
b Th nks f r c m ng, v ryb dy.
Setting the agenda
c d n my -m 1, th p rp s f t d y's m ng
t ...
d By th nd f th s m t ng 'd I k s m k nd f d c s n
n th s.
Managing the discussion
e P rh ps w c n c m b ck t th s I t r.
f L t's m v n t th n xt t m n th g nd
g w s m b g tt ng s d -tr ck d h r
h c n w g b ck t wh t w w r d SC SS ng rl r?
P rh ps w c Id sp d th ngs p I ttl _
J K, s j st t s mm r s wh t w 'v s d s f r.
k M yb w sh Id t k sh rt br k t th s p nt.
Managing other speakers
I Pieter s g ng II n n th -b ckgr nd. Pieter?
m Jack, c Id Pieter i st f n sh wh t h w s s y ng?
n H Id n n1 n t , Jack. Y 'II g t y ( ch nc n m m nt.
0 K, K! L t's II c Im d wn, sh II w ?
p D nyb dy h v nyth ng th y'd I k dd?
q Tania, wh t's y r p s t n n th s?
r Pieter, th nk wh Tania s try ng s y s ...
Assigning follow-up tasks
Pieter, c n I v th t n w th y ?
t Tania, c n y g b ck m TI th I.?
Closing the meeting
u I th nk th t's b s f r SW c n g t th s st g
v 'm fr d w. 'II h v st p t th r
4 Listen to the meeting in 1 again and tick the expressions as you hear them .. Which two are not used?
I 06 LEADING MEETINGS
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5 Plav the Chairperson's game in small groups. Flip a coin heads move forward three spaces, tails
>-
mm c forward one space_ Follow the instructions on the square vou Ian cl on using appropriate chairing
cxprcssinns. The first person to get through the meeting is the winner!
Outline the
Check that aim of the
Welcome the PEOPLE LOOK Say you need a
Open the people got a meeting - to
meeting
group to the
copy of the give a new CONFUSED. final decision
meeting MISS A TURN today
agenda project the
go-ahead
YOU'VE
Ask Amy to Ask Mia to give
A FIGHT HAS REACHED A
Suggest a short Resume the Give a follow- find something the background
ROKEN OUT! break meeting up task to Dan out by the next
DECISION!
A TURN MOVE ON 3 to the project
meeting
SQUARES
Try to stop
people all
talking at the
same time!
Find out! if
anyone has any
last poin;ts to
make
IN THE CHAIR
\Vork in groups of three .. Take it in turns to lead three short meetings. Prepare for each meeting separatelv
b) reading the information and related article at the back of the book. Speaker A sec pages 1-+ 1 and 1-+9.
Speaker _8 sec pages I+ I and 146. Speaker C see pages 141 and 1 S-+.
06 LEADING MEETINGS I
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1-8 customer economy flatter global outsourced 2 Find words and phrases in 1 which mean:
stakeholders vision value a attempted acquisition by predator company
9-16 effectiveness empowered flexibility functional b exceed
layers learning total networked c rate of interest charged by banks
d predicted
'Well, the most important difference, obviously, is that e strict new laws or measures
nowadays we're all operating in a (I) f profits for the period October to December
market, rather than simply a national one - the so-called g affect badly
borderless (2) .... ,,, , . _ ... And the increased h money invested in a foreign country with lower tax
amount of competition means that this company, at when a company goes public and issues shares
any rate, has gone from being product-driven to much runs out
more (3) . -oriented. And whereas we
used to focus on price, now we focus on customer 3 Divide the following into good ( ./) and bad (X) news.
(4) _ ... -· . And where we used to set goals, a deepening recession D
we now have something called a corporate b cash bonanza D
( 5) . . A lot of it is just a change in c downturn in demand D
terminology but it certainly looks like we're doing d sales boom D
something new! e economic slowdown D
'A company's chief responsibility used to be to its f market meltdown D
shareholders, but these days we prefer to talk about g windfall profits D
(6) . . - not just the people with a h housing slump D
financial stake in the company, but everyone who has upswing in the economy D
an interest in the way it's run. bio- change in rhe J major depression D
organisation of this company is that we 11(}\Y have a much k economic recovery D
(7) structure, instead of the old 1 rise in the cost of living D
hierarchy. Everything used to be kept in-house, low a lot m rise in the standard of living D
of work is (8). -r- _ ,,,,, ,, • n stock market crash D
So, we're a (9) .. company now, with o credit crunch D
fewer (IO) "-·- , .. ,,,.,,,, _.,, of management. For the p lengthening dole queues D
most part, we work in cross-(11) . . . teams, q economic surplus D
which gives us much greater (12) .. .. And r hyperinflation D
we aim to have an ( 13) rather than overheated economy 0
simply loyal workforce. That means we give training and a stabilised market D
development top priority. In fact, we like to think
we're a ( 14) __ . ,, ,. __ . ,., company. For us, now,
( 15) ..... __ is a much more important concept
than efficiency and we see product quality as just one part
of a ( 16) ,,, ,,quality mindset.'
I 06 LEADING MEETINGS
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Grammar: Linking and contrasting ideas You can use the following words and phrases
Read the meeting extracts below. For each of the words • to make contrasts and contradictions:
or phrases in bold, underline the word or phrase in
brackets that is similar in meaning. Don't change any
gr<litrtnar or punctuation. all the same although and yet but
despite in spite of (the fact that) even so
Well, in spite of all these problems, I'd say we're still even though however nevertheless though
on target for a January launch. (despite/even though) whereas while/whilst
8 What, even though we've hardly completed phase
one trials? (in spite of the fact that/despite) • to express purpose or intention:
A Yes. Although obviously I'd have liked us to be in order to/that to so as to so (that}
further ahead by now, I'm confident we'll be ready in
time. (However/Whilst) • to link cause and effect:
'B Well, I admire your optimism, Sergio, but
nevertheless, I think we should make some kind of as as a result (of} because of consequently owing to
seeing as since thanks to
contingency plan. (all the same/however)
I'm afraid that, because of the strong euro, exports Phrase bank: Chairing meetings
are down again this quarter. (consequently/owing to)
'B And as a result our share price is falling. Complete the following chairing expressions.
(consequently/owing to) a Bjorn, could you just fill us "' the
Quite. Now, whereas we've been able to sustain background ~the. project?
these losses so far, we clearly can't do so indefinitely. b Janet, would y0u like to come here or are you
(despite/although) OK that?
c We seem to be getting a 1ittfo the-point. Can
r\ Right, well, as nobody seems to be in favour of this
we come this later?
proposal, I suggest we just scrap it! (due to/seeing as)
d Going what we were saying earlier, I'd
.B It's not that we're against it, Jakob, although it is an
just like o point one thing.
unusual idea. (though/whereas)
e We need to speed things a little. So, just to sum
C Yes, I'd like to support you on this one, Jakob, but I
what we've said so far.
can't help feeling you're rushing things. (whilst/and
f OK, if we're all agreement, let's move ~
yet)
the next item ~ ;--oll!o the agenda.
A Well, how much more time do you need? In order
to put this before the board, I have to have your
g Let's break
we?
•..
!:111"'.here a few minutes, shall
approval. (To/So that)
h OK, let's all calm for a moment and go ,_,,,,_
Now, I don't want to spend a lot of time on these . the main points we've discussed. I
new European guidelines. I do think we should go No\V, the Tokyo situation - Rashid, can you get
tl1rpugh them briefly, however. (though/although) me that?
8 The guidelines do affect all of us, Renata. And then there's the training report - Suzanna, can I
" rnven so, we have more important things to discuss. leave that one you?
ewherea IN evertheless) k OK, I think that about wraps things for today.
But we'll need to set another meeting.
A Well1 everybody, thanks to all your hard work, the
Cilli]~a\gn has got off to a great start. (as a result/as
a
j'.jS1n11, of)
Ancl while it's too early to say exactly how successful
i will be, it's looking very good indeed. (whilst/as)
Ves. So as to give you a clearer idea, I've prepared
copies:of our sales projections for year one. (so/in
aider to)
'!1rn figures are broken down by country so that you
can get the full picture. (since/in order that)
Md, since we're celebrating, I brought along some
~l\b11Jµag11e! (seeing as/because of)
06 LEADING MEETINGS I
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3 .:12.12-2.17 Listen to an intcruutional group of project- team kaclcrs ta1king about \\'hat tliev have
learned about how teams work. "l a];c notes on some of the things tlrev mention bv completing the
spidcrgrams below:
5 Match the following words and phrases you heard in 4 to what they mean:
a team spirit ~ 1 extremely successful, ambitious, usually young business people
b conflict resolution 2 support for an idea from other people e.g. bosses, customers
c in-fighting 3 know-how; knowledge of one's job
d can-do attitude 4 a feeling of friendship and loyalty between members of a group
e hotshots 5 the effect of working together as a team
f the right chemistry 6 a number of methods for settling disputes between people
g technical expertise 7 the combined knowledge and skills of employees
h intellectual capital 8 a willingness to try new things and make them successful
buy-in 9 good compatibility between group members
group effort 10 disagreements between members of the same group or team
TRANSNATIONAL TEAMS
1 These days, 'virtual teams' communicating electronically across cultural boundaries and
international time zones are becoming more and more common. What sort of problems do you think
they face?
2 Different cultures tend to have different strengths and weaknesses when working in transnational
teams. Label the chart below - what nationalities do you associate with the descriptions?
4 Share your ideas and any personal experiences you may have had with the rest of your group.
07 GAMES WITHOUTFRONTIERS I
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3 The speakers mentioned the following stages of a project. Can vou put them in chronological order?
the kick-off meeting D we were reach· to execute D
'' e were almost reaclv lo sign off on this project D ''e got the green light D
the last deliverables have been shipped D the first milestone D
TEAMWORK
1 Work with a partner. Each read the executive summary of one of two popular books on teamwork.
Then share information with each other, using the discussion phrase bank to help mu. What arc the
most interesting ideas for vou? Hov do the books agree and differ on how to work in teams?
2 Teach your partner the words and phrases in the text you read which mean (the relevant paragraphs
are in brackets):
The Jazz Process Bioteams
a an efficient tightly formed group (2) a a leader who makes decisions and gives instructions (2)
b limits or controls (2) b problems with and arguments about seniority (4)
c aware of (3) c information that tells you how well you're doing ( 4)
d the combined effectivenessof teams (4) d in contact with (4)
e unclear (5) e trying different methods until you succeed (5)
f disagreement or bad feeling between people (6) f sudden inspiration or good idea (5)
g the speed you've built up (6) g being in contact with others via the Internet (6)
3 You met several useful compound adjectives in the texts you just read. See how many you can make
by combining one word from each of the boxes below:
action- co- cost- cross- customer high- + based centred conscious cultural
knowledge- market- multi- on- people- demand disciplined driven effective
real- technology- enabled focused functional managed
oriented powered quality tech time
5 Now think of nouns you could describe using some of the compound adjectives you made in 3.
6 Make an analogy of your own: 'A team is like ... '. Present it briefly to the rest of your group.
1 These davs, sport is verv much a business and business English is full of references to sport What are
the parallels, if am, between the corporate and sporting worlds? Discuss 11 ith a partner.
2 Sir Jackie Stewart is a former Triple \Vorlcl Driver's Champion and the founder and principal of
Stewart Crane! Prix, Hem relevant are his comments about Formula l to vour own line ofbusiness?
3 Moretti Racing is a recent entrant into the w oriel of Formula 1, but has
Formula l is entirely quickl, established itself as a serious competitor in the sport At least, it
teamwork related. had. But at the encl of its second season, disaster struck. Read the article
There's almost a from \Vinning Formula magazine and answer the questions:
dependency on
teamwork. The people a How 1m11n- examples of criticism and blame can vou find in the article?
that work with us are b How much confidence wouk] vou have in i\ loretti if asked to im est in
not just employees. his racing team?
They're part of the
family and you've got
to build that family up.
EnricoMoretti
6 As the major im cstors in Moretti Racing, it is up to vou to
Team Owner
decide what advice to gi1-c to the team and whut action vou'd like
56 years old, Italian
the senior directors to Like. Remember, ifs Lugcll' 1 our moue,
that is keeping the team afloat, so vou can exercise a gooc~ deal of
I
influence I The agenda for vour meeting is on page 1 58.
We had snakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark and bugs in Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom. But supposedly man's greatest fear is public speaking. That'll be
in our next picture.
STEVEN SPIELBERG, FILM DIRECTOR
1 How important is it in your line of business to be able to present your ideas professionally? Do you
enjoy giving presentations or generally try to avoid them?
2 ~ 2.21 Listen to five experienced presenters talking about what still makes them nervous every
time they give a presentation. Underline the speakers whose worries you share. Then compare concerns
with a partner.
Speaker 1 Speaker 2 Speaker 3 Speaker 4 Speaker 5
3 Complete the following expressions from the extracts in 2 using a single verb.
a Your mind blank.
b Your mouth dry.
c Your mike funny.
cl The audience quiet.
e Everything wrong.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
1 ~ 2.22-2.27 Listen to a group of business
people talking about audience expectations
in different countries. Which country do you
think they're talking about? Compare your
thoughts with a partner.
Country Extract
USA D
Germany D
Japan D
UK D
France D
Kuwait D
Check your answers on page 141.
5 In your experience, what sort of thing do audiences in your country tend to go for? What doesn't go
down so well?
6 You heard the following idiomatic expressions in 1. Complete them by filling in the missing letters.
Use the words in brackets to help you.
a You should have all the technical information at your fi .. __ . (easily available)
b Give your presentation the personal to ..... (aim it directly at your audience's needs)
c You'll get loads of interruptions, but just go with the H . ---···-· (let things happen)
d Don't get too carried aw . (be overenthusiastic)
e Have a few gimmicks up your sl . (plan some clever surprises to attract attention)
f It really is essential that you do your ho (prepare very carefully)
INNOVATION
1 I Iow much of vour corupanv's business depends on innovation? Cive a few examples .
2 Look at the extract from a web page below. What clo vou think the title means? i\m, read the text.
Does' om company encourage this kind of iuitiati. c?
lntrapreneurs
Ideas are like insects - many are born, but few
live to maturity. Because they closely resemble
entrepreneurs, we call the people who turn ideas
into realities inside an organisation 'intrapreneurs'_
lntrapreneurs are the hands-on managers who make
a new idea happen.
Texas Instruments, well known for intrapreneurial
successes, studied fifty of their successful and
unsuccessful new product efforts. In each of their
successes there were one or more dedicated
intrapreneurs who persisted despite great obstacles.
Similarly, the common denominator of their failures
was that every one of them lacked a champion, an
intrapreneur. Innovations just don't happen unless
someone takes on the intrapreneurial role.
Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot, www.intrapreneur.com
5 ~ 2.28-2.31 Two managers for MaxOut, an American chain of fitness centres, are presenting a new
business idea to their board of directors. Listen to four extracts from their presentation and answer the
questions.
Extract 1
a Put the stages of the first part of the presenta tion in chronological order.
quote statistics D build up expectations D pose a problem D introduce themselves D
thank the audience D set a challenge D share corporate vision D
b Are the presenters successful at arousing the curiosity of their audience? Why (not)?'
c The following figures were quoted. What do they refer to?
1,000 250,000 ~
35 ~ 61 % (l22m)
d On a scale of 1-5, how confident did the presenters sound?
e Is it more effective having two speakers instead of one?
f What advice would you give the speakers if they had to present in your country? Should there be
more or less technical detail, humour, formality, audience involvement, 'hard sell'?
Extract 2
a What do these figures refer to? Do you find them surprising?
a mere 13%
a staggering 92%
b What do you think 'mere' and 'staggering' mean?
c Complete the following extract from the presentation.
We did a nationwide su .. . . .. of people who had previously shown an in _ m 1ommga
MaxOut club and then changed their mi ..... .. ... Full de .. . ..... are in the re . in front of you,
but this chart hi _our main fi, __ -·
d Complete the chart, which shows the results of the survey referred to in c.
Nationwide survey
Reasonsgiven for not becoming a
member of MaxOut Health Clubs
~--
08 PROMOTINGYOUR IDEAS I
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Extract 4
a Complete the extract below using the verb phrases in the box. The first one has been clone for you.
OK, to wrap things up. The Micro-GYM ( 1) _ has been fully cost,;d. - a complete breakdown
(2) --··--· .. ,,_ .. __ . . in the report. Estimated costs of manufacturing, packaging and
advertising (3) .- .... Product testing (4) ..... , __ ··- _ _ , but we
would obviously need the go-ahead from you before we proceed much further with that. The Micro-
GYM (5) __ _ _ _ __ , , , at around ])35: well within the reach of most people. It
( 6) . . .. ...... .. .... .. ...... that exercise demonstrations ( 7) ··- _ _ _ on
video and that the product (8) ,.. . ..... ·-··· ... ...... online. Both these suggestions would
incur extra costs, but (9) _
b If you were on the board of MaxOut, would you give the new product idea the go-ahead? If not, what
other information would vou need before mu were persuaded?
I I
6 Put the stages of the presentation you just listened to into the correct order.
a gap in the market interest the key message the main product features the new product
the objectives the presentation project approval the Q&A session some relevant statistics
open
2 outline
*
] Arouse •
~
4 Quote
~
5 identify
6 Introduce
+
Describe
+
7
8 sum up
*+
9 Ask for.
+
10 Lead into
I 08 PROMOTINGYOUR IDEAS
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7 An in-house team is presenting a new product idea it's been working on to senior management.
Replace the words and phrases in bold with the nearest alternatives from the box.
coh-fideht
a By the end of this presentation, we're sure you'll be as positive about this idea as we are.
b As one of the main competitors in this industry, we are constantly looking for ways to stay ahead of
the field and maintain our competitive edge.
c Let me show you some figures ... I'm sure you'll agree these are amazing statistics.
cl Believe me, we've really done our homework on this.
e We think this product has enormous potential.
f In focus groups, the general opinion was that the product will meet a real need.
g The main benefits of the product are clear.
h It is the perfect solution to a common problem
It represents a great opportunity for us to extend our brand and penetrate a new market.
J A full cost analysis is in the report in front of you.
k What we need now is the go-ahead from you so we can take things further.
1 We'll take your questions now. So over to you!
Prepare
You'll find information on real concept products in
the additional material section. Team 1 turn to page
150, team 2 to page 154. Choose which product idea
you want to pitch and decide what kind of company
would be able to manufacture it. Find out or invent any
supporting figures you'd like to refer to and create any
simple visuals you'll need.
Practise
Run through your pitch a couple of times. Use a similar
presentation structure to the pitch you listened to. Some
of the phrases and expressions in exercise 7 on this page
and in the Phrase Bank in the Language Links may be
helpful. Practise handing over to your partner after each
phase of the talk.
Perform
When you're ready, give your presentation. Make sure
you invite questions at the end. Whose pitch was the
most persuasive? Who gets the go-ahead?
3 Rewrite the impersonal e-mail below using only active You use the passive when you are more interested in
verbs and replacing some of the more formal words and actions, views and decisions than in the people who
phraseswith friendlier-sounding alternatives from the box. actually took them. The passive sounds more formal and
objective than the active. For this reason it is frequently
each other exchange views from now on used in reports.
get the chance in this way look forward meet
pencilled in seeing you there up to speed various If the subject of the active sentence is they, you, one,
people, everyone or no one, it is usually unnecessary to refer
to it in the passive e.g. No one can do it becomes It can't
be done by anybody.
From: Robert Masters
When using reporting verbs in the passive, you need to
To: All departmental managers
Subject: Interdepartmental meeting insert the word it e.g. They said 'There was absolutely no
corruption' becomes It was strongly denied that there had
It has been decided that an interdepartmental meeting
been any corruption.
will henceforth be held every month. Heads of
department will thus be able to network and generally The active generally sounds more personal than the
be brought up to date on recent developments in passive. The danger is that in criticisms it can also
other departments. Furthermore, they will be given the sound more aggressive,and so in delicate negotiations
opportunity to have their voice heard on a number of
the passive is often preferred to depersonalise potential
matters relating to overall corporate strategy.
conflict.
The first meeting is scheduled for next Thursday.Your
attendance would be appreciated.
Robert Masters ,..j
'"'i
I~
Down
1 We are one of the major in our
industry. (7)
2 We are constantly looking for ways to
stay ahead of the ,, ~ -.. ( 11)
3 We did a nationwide .~ of our
targ.et customers. (6)
4 A complete ·---of costs is included
in the report. (9)
5 Wes.et up speeial ; ....,,, ~ groups. (5)
6 What we need now is the green
from you. (5)
9 The main ,... .,. of the product are
clear. (8)
10 The ·- - so far has been
overwhelmingly positive. (8)
12 We think this product has enormous
. (9)
13 Full are in the report in front of
you. (7)
1
15 Believe me, we've really done our
on this one. (8)
ll!f)
I /\s ~ Q\tl know, we've been working on a-~ of our 16 This is a great opportunity for us to stretch our.i.., ;;
m11n for some time now. (7) (5)
~\~,th:11'tk this would be an excellent addition to our 17 I'm sure you'll agree this feature is a real selling
!lurrefr[. of products. (5) . ( 5)
8 Let me quote you some interesting . '"'"Ill:,;. (7) 18 This chart highlights our main . (8)
T11e produo l meets a real - .. ( 4) 19 OK, we'd like to throw this ·11·
U• open now for
We nscd to maintain our competitive , ....~~,,,~· (9) questions and suggestions. (7)
.
08 PROMOTINGYOUR IDEAS I
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Never do business with anybody you don't like. If you don't like somebody,
there's a reason.
HENRY QUADRACCI, CEO OF QUAD/GRAPHICS
2 How good .are your networking skills? Complete the questionnaire using the pairs of verbs in the
boxes. Then circle your answers. Compare your answers with a partner and then read the analysis 011
page 143.
You meet a group of business 3 You meet a fascinating person at 5 You see someone you don't get
people for the first time. Do you: a cocktail party. Do you: on with at a function. Do you:
a them in the eye, a to them like glue and a the other way and
smile and hello? ____ everyoneelse? ____ you haven't seen
b ____ in the background b and other them?
and to be people into the conversation? b over and _
introduced? c obliged to go and the effort to speak to them?
c ____ a joke to _ ____ with other people? c them a polite nod,
the ice? but your distance?
2 You meet up with some 4 You're stuck with a bore at a 6 You're introduced to a potential
colleagues after work. Do you: conference. Do you: client. Time is short. Do you:
a shop and _ a in the hope you'll a the preliminaries and
up on all the latest gossip? ____ something in ____ straight to the point?
b about work and common? b to know them a bit
____ about the boss? b ____ some kind of excuse before you business?
c and your and ? c business cards and
hair down? ____ them to someone say you'll back to
____ away? them?
www.frenglish.ru
4 ~ 2.32 Now listen to some business people talking about the same points you discussed in 3 and
make a note of anything you either find interesting or disagree with. Compare with a partner.
5 You heard the following phrases in 4. They're all connected. Can you remember what they were?
a sm t_ _ _ b soc chit-____ c schm _
d mmg _ e wor the r _
6 Work with a partner. For each of the situations below make a short list of things you could say.
a The person standing next to you at the hotel bar is a good customer of your company. You've heard
a lot about them from your new boss, who was about to introduce you, but was suddenly called to
reception.
b You're at a trade fair. The person on the stand hasn't met you before. A friend gave you their name,
told you they might be able to help you make some business contacts and said they'd mention you'd
be dropping by to say hello.
c You unexpectedly bump into a very good friend at a conference who you haven't seen for ages.
You've loads to talk about but unfortunately you were just on your way to a business appointment
when you met them.
d You meet your ex-boss at your children's school sports day. You used to get on quite well, but
somehow lost touch after they took early retirement.
e You're in the middle of a very interesting conversation with a potential client at a trade fair, but you
suddenly notice the time and remember that your taxi will be arriving shortly to take you to the
airport.
8 ~ 2.33-2.37 Listen to five short conversations. How quickly can you match them to the situations
in 6?
Conversation 1 D Conversation 2 D Conversation 3 D Conversation 4 D
Conversation 5 D
9 Listen again to the conversations. How similar is the language the speakers use to the lists you made
in 6? Look at the listening scripts on page 174 and underline any expressions you'd like to remember to
use yourself.
10 You're going to act out the situations in 6 with a partner. First, work together to build up the
scenanos:
• decide who's who
• establish exactly where you are
• agree on a few background details (names, shared acquaintances, past experiences, current business)
• you may find some of the language in the phrase bank on page 71 useful.
If you prefer, base the scenarios on people and places you know.
11 When you're ready, take a couple of minutes to have each conversation. Try switching roles if you
like. Which situations were the most challenging to deal with?
09 RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING I
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a Is it easy to
fit in where
you work?
Is there a
competitive
atmosphere?
b Are you a
good Loser or
do you always
play to win?
c Would you
lose a match
just to please
the boss?
What's so wrong
with the three-
martini lunch
for sealing
deals?
2 ~ 3.01-3.02 Listen to a group of oil company executives chatting during a game of golf and answer
the questions.
Extract 1
a Why doesn't Stella immediately accept Craig's offer?
b Why are they only playing nine holes?
c How would you describe the men's attitude to the game?
Extract 2
a How's Craig playing today?
b What do Craig and Stella disagree on?
c What do you think Craig has to do if he wants the job?
3 Reorganise the words in bold to make correct sentences. They were all in the conversations in 2.
a We be should thinking making probably of a move quite soon.
b We count staying can't weather fine the on at this time of year.
c I have have arranged lunch us to for at the clubhouse.
cl We be get should able to around the course in a couple of hours or so.
e You be teamed been had must wishing you with up Max.
f I have have meaning been word you a with to about this disposal operation.
g I get would was mentioning wondering you when round to that.
4 Work with a partner to practise mixing business and sport. Speaker A turn to page 142; speaker B
turn to page 150.
09 RELATIONSHIP~BUILDING I
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2 ~ 3.03-3.06 Listen to some people entertaining at home and answer the questions.
Extract 1
a Did Magda have a problem finding Anne's house?
b What do you think 'Martin's still slaving away in the kitchen' means?
c What has Magda brought as a present?
Extract 2
a What do you think 'The whole place was an absolute wreck when we moved in' means?
b What does Magda have in her drink?
c What do you think Martin means by 'I had to rescue the starter'?
Extract 3
a What do you in~ine Anne and Martin's 2£artment to be like?
comfortable LJ dark and gloomy LJ elegant D full of antiques D
light and airy D lived-in D spacious D tastefully furnished D
ultra-modem D
b When Magda sees the chairs, she says 'I could do with some of those for my place.' What does she
mean?
Extract 4
a How does Magda describe the cluck?
crispy D juicy D tasty D tender D
b Who raises the subject of business? Complete the expression: I've been m .. ,, ..... _g to talk to you
about this business in Poland.
c What excuse does Martin make to leave the two women to talk business?
d How many times does Magda indicate she's going to leave soon?
3 All the remarks below were in the conversation in 2. See who can remember the most in just three
minutes!
Arrival
L_t me take your coat. ---7 Youm d to find us OK,then? ---7 Oh, I b t you this.
---7 Youshouldn't h_e. ---7 Comeon t h. ---7 Oh, w_t a fabulous apartment! ---7 Now,
what can I g_t you to drink? ---7 I'll be right b_k. ---7 Make y f at home.
The apartment
I was j_t looking at some of your oil paintings. ---7 You've got q_e a collection,haven't you?
---7 And I love the w_y you've done the fireplace. ---7 Was that here when you m_d in? ---7
Lookat t__ t view!
The meal
Dinner's r_y when you are. ---7 Sit w r you like. ---7 I thought we'd have a nice Spanish
r_d. ---7 Now,there's more duck if you w_t it. ---7 And help y f to vegetables.---7 Mm,
this is a y delicious!---7 I'm g__d you like it. ---7 Youm_t let me have the recipe.---7
A l__ e more wine? ---7 I s t really.I'm driving.---7 Oh, go on. You'veo_y had one.
---7 Just a d_p, then.
Farewells
Well, I o_t to be making a move soon. ---7 Youdon't have to r_h off just yet, do you? ---7
Howa_t some more coffee?---7 OK,j_t half a cup. ---7 And then I really must be g__g.
---7 Thank you b_h for a lovelyevening. ---7 Next time you must come to my p__ e. ---7
T_e care now.
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A DINNER INVITATION
\Vork with a partner. Act out the situation of a business person (the guest) visiting the home of a
colleague (the host) from arrival to departure. The host is the guest's immediate boss. Before vou start,
establish:
• ''hat cornpam· \'OU work for (name, location and main business activity)
• cxactlv what j om roles are at work
• ho\\' business is doing and what problems or opportunities your compam currenth· has.
You both hm e an ulterior moti\·e for the dinner. Guest sec page 150. Host see page 1 +3.
Step 1 This is the host's li\ing
room.
Cuest, make some positive
comments, ask questions, show
interest in the answers and try to
keep the com ersation going. Host,
make up am information vou like
about yonr house to c111SI\ er vour
guest's questions.
09 RELATIONSHIP~BUILDING I
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09 RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING
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B Well, he can forget, , _ in for that When a verb is followed by a preposition other than to, the
promotion, then, can't he? -ing form is usually used (They apologised for not getting
A Hm, not much chance of that here, anyway. You back to us sooner).
know I complained us ,,, ... . .. to work another
Modal verbs always precede the other verbs in a sentence
weekend?
and are followed by the infinitive without to (You must be
B Mm, I hear Angela went mad about it.
wishing you'd never come to work here!).
A Yeah, she practically accused me ...
disloyal to the company! Can you believe it? Certain expressions always precede the -ing form: It's no
B Sounds like her. good complaining; There's no point (in) complaining;
,\ Did I tell you Iwas thinking , , __ jobs? What's the use of complaining?
B No, but Ican't say I blame you -·--~·"· to get A number of expressions take the past form: I'd rather you
out of this place!
didn't; It's time we went.
S(!me verbs can precede both the infinitive and the -ing
form. but the meaning usually changes (I like to work out A number of expressions of intention take the infinitive
mtf~t? a week = I think it's a good idea; I like working out = with to: I'm planning to do it later; I've been meaning to
Ie'ttje>y it). have a word with you.
09 RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING I
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Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous - you get knocked down by
the traffic from both sides.
MARGARET THATCHER
1 When was the last time you were faced with a difficult decision and were unable to make up your
mind? How did you decide in the encl, or was the decision made for you?
2 You may be a cool-headed decision maker in the office, but would you know what to do in a real life-
and-cleath situation? Read the following extract from an unusual website and discuss the questions.
c What worst-case
scenario would you
least like to face:
I at work 2 in life?
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10TAKING DECISIONS I
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6 Put the following expressions on the scale below according to how likely thev are. Most of them were
in the advice you just listened to. The first one has been clone for you.
a You've a good chance. g You've blown vour chances.
b You don't stand a chance. h There's a fair chance.
c There's a 50-50 chance. There's an outside chance.
cl Your chances are slim. J It's a million-to-one chance.
e You're in with a chance. k You haven't got a cat in hell's chance.
f The chances are remote.
7 Complete the following expressions using the nouns and verbs in the boxes. They were all in the
advice in 5.
8 Work with a partner. Practise using some of the expressions in 6 and 7 bv advising them on how to
handle one of the following situations. Don't worry if you can't give expert advice!
3 Tile following remarks were all in lhe meetings in 2. Replace the words and phrases in bold witl:
~i milar ones from I he box•.
4 You ulso heard the following rdiomatic expressions in 2. Can vou remember the mis~ing words? 'I 'he
first lwo letters are ghen. '111e meaning oF the idioms in brackets ma) help you.
a the ball is in I heir co (we're w::i1li11g for ~0111co11e else lo make cl decision)
b [ump lo co ulecidc loo quickly \\ ithout considering all the fact!>)
c when ii comes lo the c1 (when <1 decision frnall) has to be made)
cl ~ii nu the Fe (refuse to support either side i11 an argumcut)
10 TAKING DECISIONS I
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CRISIS MANAGEMENT
1 \Vhat sort of crises can companies be faced with these clays' Can nm think of recent examples of am·
of the following?
2 Work in two groups. Group i\ read about a crisis at IVIcDonalcl's; Group Bat Mercedes. 'l wentv-five
articles (a, an and the) are missing from each text, Write them in. If mu do the exercise correctlv, both
groups should use a, an and the the same number of times.
on a roll
4 What is the best thing a manager can do in a crisis? Match the following. Which do vou think arc
good ach ice?
5 Work in groups to act as crisis management consultants to the Coca-Cola Compam. It is Mav 1999
and the world's most famous brand is in trouble ...
Step 1
r 3.18 Listen to the first part of the case and answer the questions.
a How manx. Cokes are sold each dav? .
b How would mu describe Coca-Cola's ach·ertising strategy?
c What has just happened?
cl Wh ich markets are directlv involved in the crisis?
e Calculate how much those markets arc worth in annual sales.
Step 2
~ 3.19 Listen to the second part of the case and answer the questions.
a What do the following figures refer to?
+25% -13%
b What is the significance of these figures?
c What ha. e the inspectors at the Belgian bottling plant founcJ7
cl What is the toxicologist's \ crdict?
e Who is benefiting from Coca-Cola's current problems?
Step 3
Hold a meeting to decide what recommendations to make to your client. As well as the information rem
have just heard, read the article and look at the agenda on page 144.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Stores across Belgium removed all beverages of the Coca-Cola
Co. from their shelves today, complying with a ban prompted by the hospitalizations of people
who got sick after drinking Coke products.
For a second consecutive day, poison alert centers across Belgium received hundreds of
phone calls from people seeking information. Some callers said they too had become nauseous
after drinking Coke or Coca-Cola brands.
On Monday, Health Minister Luc Van den Bossche banned all sales of Coke and Coca-Cola
brands such as Fanta, Sprite, Aquarius, Bonaqua and Minute Maid fruit juices.
We are hard at work trying to find the cause of the problems,' said Maureen O'Sullivan, a
spokeswoman for Coca-Cola in Belgium. 'We are also implementing a total recall of our products.'
The ban was imposed after nearly 50 people, most of them young people, were hospitalized on
Monday suffering from nausea after drinking Coke products. Eight remained in the hospital today.
10 TAKING DECISIONS I
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I 10 TAKING DECISIONS
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3 Complete the following using the verbs in the box. The indefinite article is used:
appeal be bring declare file pay settle • before a singular countable noun when it is unspecified
start take and mentioned for the first time e.g. I need a holiday.
• before singular countable nouns in exclamations e.g.
s someone to court
What a day!; It was such a nuisance!
h legal proceedings against someone
c a lawsuit against someone • before the names of professions e.g. She's an engineer.
d out of court • before a singular countable noun where a plural could
e found liable for damages be used to mean the same thing e.g. There's no such thing
( compensation/a fine as a free lunch = There's no such thing as free lunches.
g, bankruptcy
b' against a verdict • to mean per when talking about prices, speed, rates, etc.
... an action against someone e.g. €3 a kilo; three times a day.
Wbk:h of the above means to reach an agreement without The definite article is used:
asking the court to decide?
• before a noun that has been mentioned before e.g. I used
to have two BMWs and a Lotus, but I had to sell the Lotus.
Grammar: Articles
Comp.lete the text with a, an, the or zero article 0, as • before a noun that is later specified in the same sentence
netries:;sry. e.g. The guy I met in Rio runs his own business.
1'ller say 'All's fair in ... ... love and .,, war.' And when it • when it is clear from the context what we are referring to
comes-to getting good deal, same is true of e.g. I'll drop you off at the hotel.
Lm~i:i1·es_s:. For example, in 1803, half of what is
•when the thing referred to is unique e.g. the human race.
1~Qw ...USA was actually bought from ... French for
lhtieli: cents acre! How were they able to get such • before an adjective referring to a group e.g. the Dutch.
bargain?At time, Emperor Napoleon was The zero article is used:
preparing to go to . war with Britain and was
d0spern.teto sell. • before mass or abstract nouns e.g. Greed is good.
• before the names of most countries. Exceptions include:
Phrase bank: Decision-making the USA, the UK and the Netherlands.
Ll~tecl helm\' are six key things you'll need to do in a • in certain fixed expressions e.g. go to war.
det:ision-11takiri~ meeting. Match each to three things
yon mighl say. The first one has been done for you as an
rumple.
1 KHcmm1:g<Hrollal'imafi~rn ~O
1 Gomm©·nt en (J);ptli:m. D LJ 0
D
That's a big plus. as far as I'm concerned.
m-- OK: I'd like everybody's
1 Con'Sicler prni> a111cl' Q! 1ts DDD But let's look at some of the minuses. input on this.
4 Mvise c:mJiofl D D 0
~ Check agreement D D D D----
6 Cl<lnm1itto a decision D D EJ we need to take our time on this.
I don't see we haveany
option but to go ahead
So is that unanimousthen?
I think I'm going to haveto go
with my gut instinct on this one. ~ To be honest. I'm in two minds about this.
m------. m---
~ I do n't want us
1
a~~- OK. so we'regoing to
Let's pool our ideas on this. ~ing into things. go with Marc's idea.
10 TAKING DECISIONS I
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talking about competition. Read the headlines below and match the
phrases in bold to what they mean. ~~-::;_~:.-==---=-==-::..===:-_:
------------
a Google's game plan for the next five years is to take over the
mobile web.
b Microsoft and Mozilla are still the major players in internet
1 get tough
browsers.
2 have the power
c US auto manufacturers need a level playing field in order to
3 achieved our objectives
compete.
4 the most important companies
d When it comes to protecting their patents, companies play
5 strategy
hardball.
6 a fair situation
e Steve Jobs: We haven't hit our targets for Q3, but we have
come close.
f As Steve Ballmer knows, when you're number one, you call
the shots.
2 In business, competition is often compared to a race. Label the diagram below with the appropriate
verbs:
catch up with... fall behind i., overtake... stay ahead of... THE COMPETITION
3 Which verb or verb phrase in 2 could you replace with the following?
a lose ground to . . . b match . . . c leave ... behind
4 Discuss with a partner. Who are the major players in your line of business or the business you'd like
to go into? Is there a level playing field? Who's the market leader? How has it been able to stay ahead of
the competition? How could the other players catch up with or overtake it?
STRATEGY MEETING
1 A marketing team is holding a strategy meeting to discuss ways of becoming more competitive
Complete the suggestions in the yellow speech balloons below using the prepositions in the box.
1_0_K_._t_h-an_k_s_f_o_r-co-m-in-g~.
situation, So let's hear your new products and fast!
l-
10 If you ask me, we need to look
thoughts • "
4 In my opinion,we need
9 No, look, What we to look our best
really need to do is clients. They give us the
In o~ni!lr words, ' stand most
we'~l~flll!!l the competition more. business. fi; So you're saying
it's a matter of
8 In my view, we simply
5 No, we needto break
need to bring--· ...... , our
smaller, more specialist
So it's just a matter overheads, They are way markets. They're ~--~-----~
of~-- _ .. _M~M-- 0
too high. the future. d We should be looking
thl1Jl1? at t
2 Match each phrasal verb you made in 1 to the most similar verb below:
a accelerate = .- _ f penetrate = .
b be different from = ... __ ,, ·-·---·----- g produce = ...... _,, ··-- ··-·
c compare with=- .. -------·---- .. - -- ... -... h reduce=----- .. -- .. ------- .. -- ..
cl investigate = take care of= _ .... _
e launch=
3 Now complete the paraphrases in the grey speech balloons using the terms below:
benchmarking brand-stretching cost-cutting customerservice differentiation"
diversification lead times niche marketing product innovation
4 ~ 3.21 Listen to extracts from the strategy meeting and check your answers to exercises 1 to 3.
5 Choose one of the suggestions in 1. Then, perhaps referring to your own company or a company you
know well, prepare to support or oppose the idea for a minute or two.
11 SIMPLYTHEBEST I
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COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
1 Competitive Advantage by Harvard professor Michael Porter is the classic study of competition in
business. In it he claims that all companies face pressure to compete from five different directions:
2 Work with a partner. Each read the executive summary of one of two bestselling books on
competition below. Then share information with each other, using the discussion phrase bank to
help you. Which arguments do you agree with most? Where do the books agree and differ on how to
compete successfu 11 y?
2 ~l 3.22 Have mu heard of Cirque du Soleil? Listen to a pod cast about their remarkable business
model and complete the companv profile. Then check your figures with a partner.
Turnover $ .. , .... m Founder: '8-\AyJ,e;lilwrte Founded in: _ ...... ,. .. , , Employees: ,,_ .... _ .. -~...
Profit $. . .. m Annual growth: % Based in: _
% Global audience: people in ...... countries
Joint venture partners: -~------_,,,., ,,,.,~--~-- .
Interbrand 2004 brands with most global impact, ranked: ,
Value innovations: _ ., _ ,,_,,,,_. . . . . ... . ....
Target market: ·-··---····-·-····-- Cost structure: ... - .... ·-···-····· Pricing: ,,
4 \Vork in small groups to decide what Cirque could do to maintain its competitive ach·antage .•Things
vou could consider include: cost-cutting to reach a wider market, brand-stretching and merchandising,
diversification into new media or themed service industries, alternative forms of advertising,
collaboration with competitors to create innovative srnergies. For further ideas see the Cirque du Soleil
fact file on page 157.
5 :13.23 Listen to what Cirque has in fact clone to respond to ever-fiercer competition. Diel it take
I
anv of vour advice?
1 Have you ever opposed an important decision at a meeting, lost the argument, but later been proved
right? Have you ever been in a position to say 'I told you so'? Tell the story.
2 ~ 3.24 Gabrielle Bonnet is VP for marketing at NMI Group, a large Franco-Dutch conglomerate
with diverse interests in media, beverages and sports goods. She's just come out of an all-day board
meeting at which the controversial decision was taken to acquire a 49% stake in Indian low-cost airline
Eastern Promise. Work with a partner. Listen to Gabrielle's conversation with CFO, Pieter De Vries.
Each complete the key arguments of a different speaker. Then compare notes.
This is another one of Herman's expensive e ·-·-·- trips! Now, you know we've done a lot of d ,.,,, diligenceon this. •
• Airlines are just about the world's least P--·-··"' . India's a rapidly e--·-····- .. economy with over a billion people. •
D I
There are practically nob ... ·-··- ,., to entry. Delhi airport is expecting e_
1 OOm passengers by 2050.
_ __ growth -
Eastern Promise already has an 8% markets ..... _,,,,,_,. It just needs c.. ·--···- .. , .
3 From what you've just heard, which way would you have voted at the meeting?
4 Sure enough, nine months after the decision was made, Eastern Promise is already in trouble. The
following article has just appeared in Skyways magazine. How many of Gabrielle's original objections to
the deal have proved justified?
5 Which words and expressions in the article could be replaced by the following?
a positive (paragraph 1) payer (paragraph 2)
b negative (paragraph 1) J a price war (paragraph 3)
c cut drastically (paragraph 1) k extremely narrow (paragraph 4)
d increasing (paragraph 1) 1 expensive (paragraph 4)
e redundancies (paragraph 1) m edge (paragraph 4)
f a lot of media exposure (paragraph 2) n joined (paragraph 5)
g oversupplied (paragraph 2) o potential (paragraph 5)
h intense (paragraph 2)
6 ~ 3.25 The day after the article you've just read was published Gabrielle is not surprised to be
called into the office of Herman Van der Poe!, CEO of NMI Group. Listen and answer the questions.
a What are the latest developments at Eastern Promise?
b Why is the situation especially delicate?
c Why has Herman chosen Gabrielle to fly out to New Delhi?
7 As members of Gabrielle's marketing team, you have accompanied her on her fact-finding mission to
New Delhi. Work in three groups to research the market situation. Group A see page 153, group B page
159 and group C page 160.
8 Share your information with the rest of the team. Your job is to come up with a rescue plan
for Eastern Promise. You can leave the financial details to the number-crunchers in the accounts
department. What you need to do is decide the following:
"=,.....,,, ~
EASTERN PROMISE
• Is there any future for Eastern Promise as a low-cost carrier?
• Is there a gap in the Indian domestic airline market that Eastern Promise could be filling?
• How could the company be successfullyrepositioned? Who should its target market be?
• How could NMI create synergies between its other businessesand Eastern Promise?
• Should NMI and Eastern Promisetry to gain critical massthrough acquisition of another
airline?
• Is there a casefor investing in infrastructure at some of the main Indian airports?
• Apply Blue Ocean Strategy to the problem. What do airline travellers typically expect?
Are there any unnecessaryfeatures of flying you could eliminate or reduce? What could
you offer more of without pushing up costs significantly? What innovations to airline
travel could you introduce?
• Apply Purple Cow thinking to the problem. How could you make Eastern Promise
'remarkable'? How could you create marketing buzz amongst your target market
without spending a fortune on massadvertising?
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time,
unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better.
ROBERT CORMIER, AUTHOR
1 Read the following extracts from web and press articles and discuss the questions with a partner.
a How important is e-mail in your job? If you did what this businessman did, do you think you might
find the same thing?
A friend of mine, a merchant banker. decided that for one month he would turn off his e-mails When he
switched back into gear he found that out of 753 e-mails, ten were really useful Out of the ten, two were
vital - so vital that the senders all took the precaution of ringing to confirm, JU St in case their e-mails were
missed. Business Life magazine
b According to the Electronic Messaging Association, around seven trillion e-mails are sent annually.
How many of them end up in your inbox? And how do you deal with the following problem?
When everybody has e-mail and anybodycan send you e-mail, how do you decide whose messages you're
grnng to read and respond to first and whose you're grnng to send to the trash unread? Tom Peters in Fast
Company magazme
112 E-MAILING
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2 Make a list of your three top e-mail writing tips. Compare tips with the rest of your group.
WRITING E-MAIL
1 : LU Listen to a podcast explaining what the kind of e-mail you send says about your career
prospects. How do the pictures below relate to the research the podcast describes?
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch
at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
it deosn't mttaer in
what oredr the ltteers
in a wrod are.The olny
iprmoetnt tihng is taht
the frist and lsat ltteer
are in the rghit pclae.The
rsee cap be a toatl mses
t,,,~~
''
bcuseae the huamn mnid
<:»
dees na:t raed Ervef ltet~
by istl~. but q,e wrod as
a wlohe.
......
-
2 If Professor Owens's research is right, are you writing the kind of e-mails that will get you promoted?
12 E-MAILING II
I :
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.
~ ~kllLS
~ - ·--:_
3 Look at the two e-mails below, From what Professor Owens said in the pod cast \'OU just listened to,
which do vou think was written by a junior manager?
4 Correct the gramm<H, spelling and punctuation mistakes in the first e-mail. There are 18. Break up
the text into short paragraphs and add a suitable subject line.
5 Were the mistakes in the first e-mail mainly language errors or typos? Do e-mails like this create a
bad impression or doesn't it matter as long as the message is clear and the tone friendly? \Vo11lcl \OU he
more tolerant if you knew the writer was not a native-speaker?
6 Make the second e-mail shorter and simpler by deleting as many words as \'OU can without changing
the basic message or sounding too direct.
.... Glossary
asap /,er es er 'pi:/ as soon as
possible, In AmE, asap is often
Steve pronounced /re s rep/
Can you udpate me on where you are with hte Rome Expo arrangements I BTW abbrev by the way: used
was unable to open the attatchment you sent me, so i dont have a copy of the in e-mails and text messages for
programme.As for as the Copenhagen conferrence is concerned I don't just adding additional information
have time for dealing with it myself. So please can you sort this out with the FYI abbrev for your information:
Danes asap? You'll need probably to contact Margrethe Rasmussen at there used in e-mails and text messages
as a way of introducing a useful
headquarters in helsingborg. Copy me in on any correspondance. piece of information
Thanks alot.Your a star!
Maxine
(BTW any news on Garys feasability study???)
Dear Stephen
I do realise that you must be very busy at the moment
with all the arrangements for our exhibition stand at the
Rome Expo in two weeks' time, but, if you have a spare
moment sometime over the next few days, could you
possibly just have a quick look at the first draft of my
report on the Com Tech feasibility study, which I've been
working very hard on since we last spoke? As I'm sure
Maxine has already told you, it was actually due last week
and I know that she needs it quite urgently, but there are
just a couple of points I need to check with you, if that's
OK, before I submit the final report - see attachment.
FYI, I don't know if anyone has spoken to you about it
yet, but it looks like I'm probably going to be coming to
Copenhagen with you, Fiona and Michael in September
after all.You'll remember from my CV when you
interviewed me for this position that I studied German
and Danish at university and, as a matter of fact, I still
speak pretty good Danish, which might just come in
handy in some of the bars;-) although I'm quite sure
most of the Danes we'll be meeting at the conference will
have no problem whatsoever with English!
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7 Now make the shortened second e-mail friendlier by adding a few personal touches. Use some or all
of the following information to personalise it in your own way.
Stephen Steele
• has just become a father for the first time
• has put in for a promotion
• is under a lot of pressure because three people in his department are off sick
• has never been to Denmark (Gary knows it well)
• is a keen squash player (so is Gary).
E-MAIL STYLE
1 How you write an e-mail largely depends on who you are writing to, but, in general, a friendly,
neutral style will work best - neither too formal nor too familiar. Avoid unnecessary acronyms,
abbreviations and slang which may confuse, date or sound silly. Underline the best option in each
section of the e-mail below.
2 Write a short e-mail in reply to the one above using the prompts below.
glad I enjoyed I presentation I also pleased I response I product demo //disappointed I hear I not keen
I design //thought I quite stylish //let I know I free I discuss I alternatives// around I most I next week//
happy I go through I report// costing I ready I within I few days// may need I check I few things I Sandra
II happen I have I extension number? I thanks
12 E~MAIUNG I
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3 The following expressions are all useful in e-mails. Complete them using the prepositions in the
boxes. Some of them have already appeared in this unit.
2 ~ 3.28 Listen to the story of some of the biggest e-mail blunders ever made and number the
following in the order they are mentioned.
Netscape D Merrill Lynch D
Dow Chemical D Cerner D
the Love Bug D Western Provident D
AOL D Norwich Union D
Microsoft D Norton Rose D
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I was/we were originally hoping to ... , but I'm afraid that Sorry to be a pain about this, but I'm still waiting for ...
won't be possible now because... , so what I'm/we're Canyou let me know how much longer it's likely to be?
planning to do is ... Do you think you'll have it finished by ... because... ?
Sorry it's a bit short notice, but do you think you'll be able If you anticipate any problems, let me know. I'll ...
to ... or is that going to be a problem? I'll wait to hear tomorrow to see how you're doing. Cheers!
from you.
I've got an important meeting/presentation coming up on I've had an e-mail/phone call from someone called ... ,
... and I'm going to need Can I leave it to you to ... ?I who wants ... Can I leave this one with you? I'm sure
expect I'll also be needing . you'll know a lot more about it than I do. But keep me in
the loop.
I know you're probably up to your neck in work at the
moment, but if you can get ... to me before next ... t it'll BTWa few of us may be ... on ... Are you going to be
be a real help. Thanks. around? Fancyjoining us? Should be fun.
Stage 2
Exchange e-mails with your partner. You are standing in for the person they e-mailed while that person
is off sick I on holiday I on maternity/paternity leave I away on a long business trip (you decide which).
Write a reply (maximum 100 words) explaining the situation and asking for clarification or any details
you need. Mention that you are new to the department.
Stage 3
Exchange replies and continue the correspondence as long as necessary to complete your business.
12E~MAILING I
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112 E-MAILING
www.frenglish.ru
Which of the sentences above refer to: The Present Continuous and be to are frequently used to
1 something which will happen very soon? D talk about fixed arrangements.
2 something which has been formally arranged? D The Present Simple is often used either to talk about
3 something which other people are expecting? D schedules and timetables or to refer to the future after
4 something which has already been decided? D words like if, when, as soon as, before, etc.
5 something we'd like to happen, but it DD DD
may not? There's a range of expressions including be going to and
be hoping to which are used to talk about plans and
6 Future in the past intentions.
Put the sentences into the past and match them to what Both will and going to can be used to make predictions:
was said next. will for opinions and going to for more informed
a We're going to fly Lufthansa. D predictions.
b We're meeting at three. D 'll is frequently used to make offers, promises and take
c I'm just about to leave. D initiatives.
d I think we'll have problems. D
The Future Continuous, will be doing, is used to talk
1 Can it wait till the morning? about something which will be in progress or which is part
2 But sornething's come up.
of a routine.
3 But there's been a change of plan.
4 But I never expected this! The Future Perfect, will have done and will have been
doing, are used to talk about something which will already
7 Past in the future be completed at a future time. The continuous form
fick the sentences which refer to the future. usually emphasises the activity rather than its completion.
,, E-MAILING I
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1 Look at the Emerson quote above. Can you see any techniques he's using to make his statement
more powerful? Think about sounds, lists and repetition.
2 How important is it to make an impact right at the beginning of a presentation? Read the book
extract. Do you agree with the author?
The opener to any business presentation is nearly always important establishing the tone
for the rest of the event. It's that vital moment when you take charge, gaining people's close
attention.
People tend to remember openers more than any other part of a presentation, except perhaps
for the closing remarks.You waste a wonderful opportunity if you resort to trivia like: 'Good
evening, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great pleasure to be here today.'
3 With a partner, make a list of ways you can attract people's attention when you start a presentation.
Could any of them be risky?
4 ~ 3.29 Listen to the openings of six business presentations. Do the speakers use any of the
techniques you listed in 3? What other techniques do they employ?
6 The openers below were all used in 4. Can you remember the first three words of each?
Contractions (I'd, I'm, it's, etc.) count as one word .
a . ,,. that of the world's one hundred biggest economies only 49 are actually
countries?
b favourite lawyer jokes is: this guy's having a quiet drink in a bar when a drunk
starts shouting .
c ·····- __ .. __ start off by thanking Dr Jensen, Dr Tan and Dr Martinez for inviting me to
speak today.
d .. ,. .. _ ...... _was Thomas Edison who said: 'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways
that don't work.'
e .,.. _through the appointments pages the other day and came across this unusual
job advertisement.
f _ __ _ _about Total Quality, I think of the story of the American steel magnate,
Andrew Carnegie.
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charisma /kanzmo?
PRESENCE AND PERFORMANCE
noun [U] a strong
personal quality
1 For 111am people the magic ingredient great presenters have is charisma. What's the equivalent word
that makes other in vour language?
people like you
and be attracted to
you: A man sadly
2 ~ 3.30-3.33 Listen to extracts from four famous political speeches, Rank them in order of how
lacking in charisma charismatic thev sound, Compare with a partner,
Extract 1 D Extract 2 D Extrnct 3 D Extract 4 D
3 The speakers in 2 used a number of rhetorical techniques. The main ones arc listed below.
Complete them using the words in the box,
We understand it still
that there is no easy
road to freedom. We
know it well that none
of us acting alone
can achieve success
... Let each know that
What are our chances of success? It depends for each the body,
on what kind of people we are. What kind of the mind and the
people are we? We are the people that in the soul have been freed
past made Great Britain the workshop of the to fulfil themselves.
world, the people who persuaded others to Never, never and never
buy British, not by begging them to do so. but again shall it be that
because it was best. this beautiful land will
again experience the
oppression of one by
another ...
5 :, 3.34 Look at the following extracts from ineffective business presentations and rephrase them to
give them more impact. Then listen and check.
a Cash flow is the main problem we're facing.
What's the facing? The cash flow.
b It's critical to our success, even though it's so risky and problematic.
It's "" risky, - .. - problematic,_ yet __ critical to our success.
c It's faster, cheaper, more reliable - that's the most important thing - and easier to use.
It's and _ _ _ _ _ _ __ . But, above , it's more
d We can still be the best, but we can't ever be the biggest again.
Even we can .... again be the , we still
e Fewer jobs are being fought over by more graduates, that's the point.
The point , more and _ _ _ graduates_ over fewer
f We're number one in Latin America now, not just Brazil.
Not ... we number one in Brazil. We're in Latin America.
g There isn't a company that's ever outperformed us in this market
In this , no has _ _ _ us, not , _ _ - _ !
h We've had no complaints in over thirty years of business.
Not , 111 over .. , have .. had a complaint - not a
!
6 Look carefully at word order and the order of clauses in the rephrased extracts in 5_ What
information tends to come last?
8 :_; 3.35 The last few minutes of a presentation are your final chance to make a lasting impression.
Listen to the closing remarks of four presentations and number the techniques in the order you hear
them. Which is the most effective?
the sum up D the call to action D the famous quotation D the emergency stop D
9 Choose one of the closes below and use it as the basis for closing a presentation you have given in
the past or may give in the future.
a Ladies and gentlemen, we are on the brink/threshold of-·- I'm reminded of the words of ... , who
said ... And I'd like this company/this department/us to be able to say ...
b Well, that just about brings me to the encl of my presentation, except to say ... And if there's one
central message I'd like to get across to you this morning/afternoon/evening, it's this _
c So, how do you sum up ·-·? I could tell you that ... , that i.. and that ... I could also mention ... But all
that would fail to do it justice. For the fact is, that .., It is, quite simply, ...
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2 Read the article and information on Bhutan. Does it sound like your idea of paradise?
GROSS NATIONAL
HAPPlllESS
Gross national happiness is more important than gross
national product.' That's the official government policy of King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, ruler of what some have
called 'the last paradise on earth'. Indeed, his programme of
5 careful economic development and gradual change has so far
ensured that Bhutan, completely isolated from the rest of the
world until 1961, has managed to balance the need to progress
into the 21st century with the need to preserve its cultural
heritage. But there's trouble in paradise.
At least, that's how it used to be. For now technology has finally
come to this remote farming community. Foreign investment has
helped build up the country's infrastructure, improve health and
1S education and create a growing tourist industry. Cybercafes have
opened in the capital, Thimphu, and the television aerials rising
from the rooftops may soon outnumber the prayer flags. But the
traditional way of life, upon which so much of Bhutan's 'national
happiness' has depended, is under threat.
3 Work in two groups. Group A is the Bhutanese Preservation Party (BPP) and Group B the Progress
Party of Bhutan (PPB). Read the introduction to your party's manifesto opposite.
Bhutanese • ProgressPartyofBhutan@
For over a thousand years Bhutan has stood still.
PRESERVATION PARTY But the rest of the world has not. King Jigme Singye
Wangchuck himself has said: 'Change is coming' and
To the outside world we are Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan kingdom there is nothing in the teachings of the Buddha that tells
of scenic beauty and scientific interest, but little economic us to resist change - rather the reverse. Change is not
importance. But in our own ancient language we are Druk Yul, to be resisted, but to be embraced. It is time to end
'the Land of the Thunder Dragon', a land steeped in history
centuries of isolation and poverty .
.and_ legend.
The PPB has no wish to damage either our environment
Weoin the BPP have never stood in the way of progress, so
kmgas it is in harmony with the natural order and cultural or our rich cultural traditions. Indeed, these priceless
traditiims of our country. But we believe it is essential to treasures are the basis on which we seek to build a
IJilimt~ the unique way of life we have enjoyed for over a better future for Bhutan.
thous11D8 years from the worst excesses of the 21st century. Support our programme of culturally sensitive and
you join us in our campaign to preserve those qualities the environmentally aware development, and provide your
of the world most envies about Bhutan - its simplicity, its children and your children's children with the opportunity
qUillify and the contentment of its people? Vote BPP. and prosperity they deserve. Vote PPB.
4 Work in vour group to produce a ten-minute party political broadcast to the people of Bhutan. Tb
help vou prepare, Group A sec page 144 and Group B see page 150. Use the rhetorical techniques' ou
have stucliccl to aclcl impact to vour speech. Your aim is to determine the future of what may well be 'the
last pa radisc on earth'.
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2 Complete the sentences using the words in the boxes. 2 Sound repetition
coming growing pooling pouring sowing trickling Replace one word in each sentence with a word from the
box that starts with the same sound as other words in the
Money is liquid sentence.
a They're ··-···· ·-millions of dollars into R&D.
better dynamism past promotion simpler
b A small amount of cash has started _ m.
team willing
c We should be _ . our resources - together we'd
have sufficient capital to fund new research. better
Ideas are plants a It's bigger. It's superior. And it's British.
d After years of work, our plans are finally .... to b I'm not interested in our history or in our present, but
fruition. in our prospects for the future.
e There's __ .. _support for the project - most of the c We'll reach our targets together as a group.
people we spoke to think it's a good idea. d We need the right product at the right price with the
f They're the seeds of doubt in the mind of the right advertising.
customer and, as a result, we're losing sales. e We have the drive, energy and determination to
attack fight goalposts guns idea odds succeed.
stakes victory f Are we prepared to work towards that goal?
g The new system is both more secure and significantly
Argument is war easier to install.
g They shot down my .. ·----·· before I'd even had a What sound is being repeated in each of the sentences
chance to explain it. above?
h We came under···-· . .. _ from the marketing team.
a _ .. b c __ d ... e .. _ . .f. . g
He didn't put up much of a __ In fact, he just
seemed to give in completely. What do sentences a, b, d and e all have in common?
J She stuck to her and refused to move an inch.
Competition is sport 3 Contrasts and opposites
k We've scored a significant..... . .... in the home market. Complete the sentences using the idea of contrast to help
1 The . .. are high - we're risking the future of this you.
company. a It's not a question of time; it's a questionof money.
m The . . . ----are against us, but there's still a chance we b If we don't seize this opportunity, some,.. _
can succeed. el , w __ , ., .
n We don't know what our objectives are supposed to be
c Tackling a few minor problems now will save us a
because they keep moving the . ,. .
whole 1 of ma pr.......... la .
d Some people are saying we can't afford to advertise,
but I s . we c......... ... aff ..... n _ ~ to.
e I'm not saying we're certain to succeed: what I a __
s_ is we'll ne _kn... unL , we
tr.._,.
f Three years ago this company was going nowhere;
to ,., _ . it's num o .. - in the ind
Label the presentation openings and closes below according to the techniques the speaker is using:
Is anybody out there? Let me take you on a journey Now, here's a funny thing
Oh, and one last thing... This is a true story, by the way To cut a long story short
Wise words Would you believe it?
5
Did you know that. .. ? I was the other day and happened to I came
In the time it takes you to ... across .
Statistics I Studies show that. .. I remember when I was working I living in ...
6
One of my favourite stories I jokes about that is ... Could you just raise your hand if you've ever. ..
Whenever I'm asked about ... I think of the story of ... Have you ever been in the situation where ... ?
7
I'd like to start off by ... So how do you sum up ... ?
My presentation this morning I afternoon is in three So my central message today is this ...
main parts ...
By the end of this morning's talk, ... That just about brings me to the end of my
+ presentation, except to say ...
I think it was ... who said ... If you take just one thing from today's talk, take this ...
Somebody once said ...
In closing, I'm reminded of the words of ...
13 MAKING AN IMPACT I
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Take a little of home with you, and leave a little of yourself at home.
MARK MCCORMACK, FOUNDER OF IMG SPORTS AGENCY
1 When packing to go on a business trip, apart from your travel documents, what
are the absolute essentials? A good book? Swimming things? A decent hairdryer?
An air pillow? Chargers? Adaptors? A travel alarm? Compare with a partner.
2 In the film The Accidental Tourist, travel guidebook writer Macon Leary gives
advice on how to pack for a trip. Read the extract and discuss the questions.
a Doy u tend to travel I ight or do y(:)u bring along 'everything but the kitchen sink'?
b 1-la\le you ever li;;id ~Lil) bad experiences with lost luggage or hotel laundries?
c Is grey y(rn r colour? 00 yon dress fqr comfort OT dress to impress?
d Wlrnt'~ the best way o! avoiding unwanted ccnversations with strangers?
e Is it important to allow yourself some free time on a business trip?
f Have you ever lost something valuable on a journey? Tell the story.
3 What kind of person is Macon Leary? Tick the correct answers. Would you want to sit next to him on
a Hight?
~1 btt paranoid D antisocial 0 bitter 0 dull 0 fussy 0
.gloomy D lonely 0 outgoing 0 oversenous 0 practical 0
vrivatc D sarcastic O sociable 0 well organised 0 witty D
4 ~ 4.01 Read and listen to an extract from The Accidental Tourist, where Macon Leary finds himself
sitting next to an overweight man on a plane. What coincidence links the two men?
Traveller I'm sorry I'm so fat. Name's Lucas Loomis.
Leary Macon Leary.
Traveller You a Baltimore man?
Leary Yes.
Traveller Me too. Greatest city on the earth. One of these seats is not really enough for me. And the
stupid thing is, I travel for a living. I demonstrate software to computer stores. What do you
do, Mr Leary?
Leary I write travel guidebooks.
Traveller Is that so? What kind?
Leary Well, guides for businessmen - people just like you, I guess.
Traveller 'Accidental Tourist'!
Leary Why, yes.
Traveller Really? Am I right? Well, what do you know? Look at this. Gray suit - just what you
recommend, appropriate for all occasions. See my luggage? Carry-on. Change of underwear.
Clean shirt. Packet of detergent powder.
Leary Oh, good.
Traveller You're my hero. You've improved my trips a hundred per cent. I tell my wife, going with The
Accidental Tourist is like going in a cocoon.
Leary Well, this is very nice to hear.
Traveller Times I've fl-own clear to Oregon and hardly knew I'd "' Glossary
left Baltimore. cocoon warm, safe place
Leary Excellent. You're my hero I really admire you/
your work
Traveller I see you have your book for protection there. Didn't
work with me, though, did it?
6 In natural conversation certain words are sometimes omitted. Look at the sentences in italics in 4
and decide which three types of word are missing.
7 The following things were said at different times during a business trip. Delete any unnecessary
words to make them more conversational.
a A Is everything OK with your meal, sir?
B It's delicious. It couldn't be better.
b A Do you need anything else, sir?
B I don't think so, thanks.
c A I like your laptop. It's a Sony, isn't it?
B Yeah. I haven't quite got used to it yet.
d A Are you ready to start?
B Yeah, I'm just coming.
e A Do you mind if I switch the reading light on?
B It doesn't bother me. I think I'll get another coffee. Do you want one?
f A I saw you earlier in the fitness centre. Have you been here long?
B No, I just got here yesterday.Are you here on business too?
g A Have you got a light?
B Sorry, I don't smoke.
• 8 \Vhat are the advantages of having someone to chat to on a long journcv? Do vou find it easv to start
conversations ,,.·ith peoplc . on don't know?
~ 9 The most common wavs of starting a com ersation '' ith a stranger are:
a make an obsen-ation
h pay a compliment
c make a request
cl ask for information
e offer assistance
f make an apology
Categorise the following com·ersation starters by writing a, h, c, cl, e or fin the boxes.
You couldn't help me \Yith mv bag, could you?
D
2' Do you mind swapping seats?
D
~ Looks like we're in for a bil of turbulence. doesn't it?
D
Sorrv about 1 nr kids. Let me know if they're bothering vou, D
+ D
s l couldn't help noticing you speak Dutch.
0
Do you think I coul_d b.(JHOW your p~lper if you've finished" ith it?
6 D
7 1·s this row l 7', rlo you know]'
1 like vour mobile. Is tha1 one of the new ones? D
8 D
9 Let 1~1'e help you with th,1t.
D
I
10 I'Il getson]eon_e to come and help vou.
I see you 're flying c111 Lo Caracas.
0
11
12 Nice camera. I used to have one like that.
D
D
• n I'm sorry, is that getting in vour wav?
D
14 Are you from Lima, by any chance?
"
10 \York with a partner to practise holding short conYersations with fellcm· passengers on planes. Speaker
A see page 144. Speaker B sec page 151.
www.frenglish.ru
TRAVELLERS'TALES
1 :1
questions.
4.01 Listen to four business people talking about their worst flving experiences and answer the
2 Read this extract from the first conversation and underline the best grammatical choice.
B After a while, some of the passengers (a) were starting/had been starting to get nervous, me
included!
A I'm not surprised.
B Anvwav, eventually, after (b) we were sitting/we'd been sitting there for about ten minutes with no
announcement and the plane still not moving, ( c) I said/I'd said something to one of the stewards
and they (cl) went/were going and (e) opened/were opening the door to see what (f) went/was
going on.
A And what (g) happened/had been happening?
B The pilot (h) got/had got in!
A You're joking!
B No, (i) they'd locked/they'd been locking him out. Seems quite funny now, but it (j) didn't/wasn't
doing at the time.
5 Listed below are the typical stages in a story or anecdote. Add the expressions in the box to the
correct place in the list. They were all in the conversations in 1.
a And the strange thing was ... b And then, to top it all, ... c Anyway, to cut a long story short, ...
d But that was nothing compared to... e Did I ever tell you about the time I was ? f I ended up ...
g Seemsquite funny now, but it didn't at the time. h This was around the time of .
i Way back in (1985) it was. j You should have heard/seen ... !
Opener
I'll never forget the time I was ... D
Context
It's quite a few years ago now, but I can still remember it. DD
Emphasis
You're not going to believe this, but ... D D D D
Close
Anyway, in the end ... D D D
6 Tick which one of the closes could also come straight after an opener.
7 Match the following to make ten things you might say while listening to someone telling a story.
They were all in the conversations in 1.
a You're\ god! f I'm not terrifying!
b I don't earth for? g I see read about this.
c Oh, my happened? h Sounds be serious!
d So, what - joking! Oh, yes, I what you mean.
e What on believe it! You can't surprised.
8 Tell the story of your worst (or best) travel experience to the rest of the class.
He won back his job after an The three bottles of vintage claret
industrial tribunal ruled that he clone whii:h they. eensumeC:I
had been unfairly dismissed. The ~l,lling fbe meal set hqm back a
court decided that five hours is sta~giering £3.3,410 {oha~ged t0
not an excessive amount of time e:~pi_enses,, of cellrse), britiyin~ the
to conduct business over a meal. f0tdl bill le jusf under £.44,0GG!
Do you agree with the court ruling? How could so huge a bill be justified?
3 : 4.03 You are in a noisy restaurant with a group of colleagues and have to keep going outside to
answer your mobile. Each time you come back in, the topic of conversation has changed. Listen and see
how quickly you can guess what it is.
4 Listen again and note down key words and phrases that helped you decide. Compare with a partner
and then check in the listening script on page 180.
5 Work in groups. Use the chart below to practise chatting over lunch with business contacts. Start
off by talking about what you've just ordered and then keep changing the subject as indicated until your
meal arrives - it seems to be taking a long time! Try not to interrupt each other too abruptly, but keep
the conversation moving.
Anyway, .. . Before I forget, .. . By the way, ... Incidentally, ... On the subject of ... So, ...
Talking of ... That reminds me ... To change the subject for a moment ...
I wonder what's
happened to our
the meal you've order?
just ordered
a problem you're
your holiday plans
having at work
Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.
MARGARET THATCHER, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
1 It's the biggest question in management literature: what's the secret of leadership? Look at the
following real and fictitious leaders of the past and present. What do you know about them?
3 Now think of a leader you personally admire. Do they have the same magic ingredient as the leaders
above? Tell a partner about them.
4 : 4JJ4 Listen to a management trainer answering the question you answered in 2. Are you
surprised by what he says?
5 In spite of all the fashionable talk about 'empowering' the workforce, we can't all be leaders. What
do you think are the qualities of a great follower? Should there be courses in 'followship'?
Think you have the skills it takes to succeed 5 You are faced with an important decision that could
impact your company's future strategy, but don't have
as a leader? Take our quiz and find out if a enough facts to suggest which way it should go. You:
climb to the top is in your future. a Think carefully about what the information you have
indicates, discuss the options with knowledgeable
colleagues, and then make a decision.
J You have lots of training and experience managing b Make no decision until you've done exhaustive
people, but have trouble keeping up with the latest research and analysed every possible outcome of
technology. You: every available option.
a Try to learn as much as you can about new advances c Delegate the decision to someone else with better
in your spare time. intuition than you.
b Sign up for extra training on how to motivate
employees, evaluate their performance, and improve
6 Your department is not meeting its financial targets
and key customers are less loyal than before. You
your public speaking skills.
need to turn things around fast. The best way to do
c Assume that, if there's anything you need to know
this is:
about new office technology, the IT department will tell
you about it. a Cancel the Christmas party, ask people to take shorter
lunch breaks, and get everyone to work longer and
2 The CEO asks you for ideas for a new marketing harder until the department gets back on track.
campaign, even though advertising is not your area of b Take responsibility for the department's problems,
expertise. You: since you're the one in charge, and do your best to fix
a Meet with people in the marketing department to gtt them.
their views, brainstorm with a mentor, and researctf c Inspire people by ordering free pizza at lunch, start a
your competitors' marketing campaigns. T-shirt slogan contest, and award free movie tickets or
b Explain to the CEO that you are the wrong person for restaurant dinners for two to the person with the most
this task, since you know nothing about marketing, creative solution to winning back a client.
and recommend someone with the right skills.
c Put off dealing with the assignment until the CEO
7 You have been assigned to lead a team of employees
from different ethnic backgrounds and whose ages
assigns it to someone else who is better qualified to
range from early 20s to late 50s. The best way to help
handle it.
the group bond is to:
3 You are so stressed about the mountain of work to a Encourage people to express different points of view
be done over the next several weeks that you doubt based on their diverse backgrounds and experiences.
whether you can finish it all. You: b Ignore the differences among them since neither age
a Resolve to work around the clock, including weekends, nor ethnicity has any bearing on their abilities to do the
to get it all done. job.
b Tell your boss that you think your workload is c Take a course in managing diversity so that you're
excessive and that you could do a better job if some aware of the legal issues, but otherwise guide the
of your deadlines were extended. team as if there were no differences among age or
e Slow down, leave the office at 6 p.m. each day, and ethnicity.
maybe even consider a short vacation to recharge
your batteries.
8 At the end of the year, your department has leftover
money in the budget that you are free to spend
4 You have several tasks to complete by the end of the how you choose. To help make the company more
Week. The most efficient way of organizing your time successful, you:
is to; a Give the top five performers in your department a big
bo as many things at once as you can, since bonus.
multitasking saves time. b Ask employees for suggestions on which local
b Focus your attention on one thing at a time, moving on charities need help, then come up with a project you
to the next task once you've finished with the one at can sponsor that will make a visible difference to the
hand. community.
c Try to get everything done by putting in longer hours c Throw a blowout bash for the entire department and
than usual. their families.
'.Qolz based on Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilled Leadership by Karlin Sloan
3 The speakers in 2 mentioned many different approaches to leadership. Some of these are listed
below. Discuss the terms with a partner and decide which of them, for you, are helpful and which
unhelpful in managing the workforce. Find the terms in the listening scripts if you need help working
out their meaning.
Helpful Unhelpful
4 How would you go about managing a multicultural workforce? Do you agree with intercultural guru
Fons Trompenaars about the key competence of transcultural leaders?
5 Which side of each dilemma Trompenaars mentions is the typical position of the culture you come
from?
2
I
3_ _
_ for the future.
... early and often.
. smart risks.
4 -· ·-- _ a sense of mission.
take
reorganise
invest hire
His leadership formula is:
I ---· .... -........... up hierarchies.
2 --· .. _ employees in decisions.
3 - ..... - ........ , ,_ conventional wisdom.
4 __ _ _ . the company upside down.
..I
reward turn
break ignore
5 __ , .... , ,, in training. have 5 ...... , _ .. exceptional talent. involve
..I
Fifth applicant Sixth applicant
With an illustrious career in telecoms, automotive and oil This India-born Yale graduate is CEO of the world's fourth-largest
companies, the firm of which this famous Finn was CEO for 14 food and beverages company. She has twice been voted the most
years is now the clear market leader in its industry. powerful business woman in the world.
2 Can you guess who the leaders are? Turn to page 161 to see who you've selected ... and who you've
rejected!
1 Where do you stand on the following corporate issues? Tick the statements you agree with ancl be
prepared to explain your position to a partner.
a A company is worth more than the price of its stock and assets - its people are its greatest asset.
h In the final analysis, leaders have a greater responsibility to their stockholders than to their
employees.
c In a free-market economy there should be the minimum of state intervention and regulation.
d Governments should never rescue failing businesses. If a company cannot compete, let it fail.
e Taking over a company to acquire its expertise, gain critical mass, make economies of scale or even
just to eliminate a competitor is ethical. Taking it over simply to sell off its assets and make a quick
profit isn't.
2 How do you think business people from different countries would answer the questions in 1? What
about Argentinians, Brazilians, Chinese, French, Germans, Italians, Japanese, Russians, Americans?
3 Chester Electrical Inc. is a medium-sized electrical, heating and plumbing company based in
Chester, Pennsylvania in the United States. Read the business magazine extract below and answer the
questions.
. a How significant do you think the recent
:SptAr~
'
upturn in CE's fortunes is?
6 At 11 p.m. that evening the light still burns in Clark Brubaker's office at the top of the Chester
Electrical Building. Poring over the figures, he realises that the move by Black Investments might just
make sense! Look at his charts and notes below and discuss as a group what problems Chester Electrical
is facing.
1 A week before the annual general meeting, Clark Brubaker receives a surprise e-mail from Sir
Anthony Black himself. Turn to page 162 to read the e-mail and answer the questions.
a To what extent does Sir Anthony's interpretation of the figures in 6 agree with yours?
b What motion is he proposing to table at the ACM?
c How much support does he need at the ACM to have his motion passed?
8 In the run-up to the ACM of Chester Electrical's stockholders, the media are going crazy with the
story. Turn to page 161 and take notes on points that may influence the meeting.
1 Is business travel a perk or a pain? With todav's sophisticated telecommunications, hem· much of it is
rcalh, neccssarv?
-
2 George Mackintosh is the serial entrepreneur who set up Gconconfcrence, at one time Europe's
fastest-growing teleconferencing company. Do you agree with what he savs?
Videoconferencing is never going to eliminate the need for at least one face-to-face meeting. If you
are doing business with someone for the first time, I don't dispute the fact that you need to meet
them, look them in the eye and shake their hand. After that it is likely you are going to be speaking
to them on the phone or by e-mail. Videoconferencing allows you to have a more personalised
relationship.
3 Read the web page below, which presents Cisco's TelePresence videoconferencing svstem, and
answer the questions.
a What is the 'paradox' the web page describes?
b How does TclePresence solve this problem?
TELEPRESENCE www.cisco.com
Business Benefits
We live in a world of paradox. Technology has allowed us to establish economicallyadvantageous
business operations worldwide. However, to excel in today's fast-moving business environment,
you have to interact and collaborate with co-workers, partners, and customers all over the world
at a moment's notice.You need to continuouslyinnovate and transform your business model to
maintain competitive edge.And you need to plan ahead to respond rapidly to unexpected issues
that affect business continuity.
At the same time, much of business is still done based on the quality of your relationships with
the people with whom you interact most often.To build and maintain these critical relationships,
you often need to travel, which translates to lost time and reduced productivity,not to mention
valuable time spent away from home and family.
All of this points to the need for a technological solution that allows the same type of face-
to-face business interactions,without the constant need for global travel. That's where the
concept of Cisco TelePresence comes in. It allows for real-time, face-to-face communication
and collaboration over the network with colleagues, prospects, and partners, even if they're in
opposite hemispheres.
116 TELECONFERENCING
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4 Find two-word phrases in the text you just read which mean:
a how your business works
b an advantage you have over your competitors
c making sure your business can still operate even in a crisis.
5 ~ 4.12 Now listen to a short commercial for TelePresence. Cisco recommends the system for the
following kinds of meeting. Which do you think it would be best suited to? Would you use it?
design team meetings consultations with vendors, suppliers and clients
in-company executive meetings job interviews
product demonstrations project meetings
sales presentations
'
b Why didn't Max have any alternative?
c What happened last time there was a similar disaster?
d What does Peter suggest doing now?
2 Complete the phrasal verbs in the following sentences from 1 with the correct preposition. Use the
synonyms in brackets to help you.
a We're going to have to shut··---- the Hamburg plant immediately. (close)
b Otherwise, the whole thing could go ! (explode)
c We'll have container lorries backed from Hamburg to Lubeck. (queueing)
3 You also heard the following idiomatic expressions in 1. Can you remember the missing words? The
first two letters are given. Use the definitions in brackets to help you.
a Who on ea.L, can that be? (I have no idea who this is.)
b All he ..... . 's broken loose here. (Everything's in chaos here.)
c Everything grinds to a ha . (Everything comes to a complete stop.)
d There's not a rno , .. ·- , to lose. (We must act immediately.)
e I'm sorry to get you up at this unearthly ho__ .. , . .. (I don't like to disturb you so late/early.)
4 Work with a partner. List the implications of a crisis like the one above.
5 Now match the following. Did you include them in your list in 4?
a a backlog of bottleneck
b a production hazard
c a safety productivity,
d a fall in orders
e a damaged man hours
f adverse reputation
g lost deliveries .
h delayed publicity
6 Work with a partner to discuss what immediate action Oriflamme should take to avoid the
implications in 5.
16 TELECONFERENCING I
~-
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7 :.1 4.14-4 1ti Listen to the emergency teleconference and answer the questions.
Extract 1
a Who hasn't been able to join the teleconference?
b Where are Peter and Monica?
c How long will it take to fix the problem at the plant?
Extract 2
a What state is the plant in?
b Why can't the orders be met completely?
c Describe Monica's response to Peter's suggestion that thev buy product from their competitors to sell
on to their customers 'to cover the shortfall'.
enthusiastic D positive D lukewarm D cool D negative D hostile D
Extract 3
a Why may Hanclelsmann be prepared to help?
b Is there still a safety hazard at the plant?
c What arrangement does Peter make with Otto?
8 The minutes on page 119 were taken by Francoise Fleuric directly after the teleconference.
Complete them using the verbs in the boxes.
Points 1 and 2
assure authorised eonfirmed ensure estimated informed keep
Points 3 and 4
agreed follow mentioned OK'd opposed pointed proposed reach report smooth
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2 Repairs estimate MS . that reparrs will1?J'Ol\ably,:take MS to oversee and ·--·· ··-·,·· .,~......,, _
three days to carry out. The malnt~s0n gwen for completion of repairs within three
the delay was the ~ow'lt: qftime neede:tirtb obtain days
a replacement heat exchanger (48hrs).
3 Production plan PD-·--- __ ,rewriting the production OM to ... ,,,,.., .... ,__., , , a
plan to give priority to key customers, but OM compromise re main customers'
"""" .. ,. --- ,. -·_out that we hold insufficient reserve orders and ............... ,, ......... "~"-back to
stocks to fully meet current orders. It was generally PD
............... that our European plants are too
overstretched to transfer goods to H'burg.
4 Traded goods PD's suggestion that traded goods be bought in FF to ···--·-·- _.. -· up the
from another supplier was initially ... Handelsmann offer and
by MB on the grounds that it would damage ----··· ..... things over with key
Orifiamme's reputation. FF. . the customers
possibility of Handelsmann being able to help us
out. This was provisionally ,., ..,_, __ ~ by PD.
9 Complete the puzzle using the extracts from the teleconference in 7 to help you.
16 TELECONFERENCING I
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·~ SKILLS ~ _ -===-1111111111
Step 1
Work in groups of three. You are the senior management of RJK (UK). Adel your names to the
organigrarn below:
••••••••••••••••• ····- ·-·.' ~--·· •• HO·-· •••• r••• ~ u •••• .,. • .- '., - ', '-· - ~ -- •• - - - •• , •• -- - ••• - . - •• - ••••• - ••••••• ' ••••••••••• H •••• •·••• ··-······· ••••• ·-·· .. ··~-····-~--• ..._ •• •·•--. •••••••••••••••••••••••
CFO RJK (UK) Creative Director RJK (UK) Account Director RJK (UK)
Gavin Hartnell
Step 2
You are about to take part in a teleconference to decide what to clo about the situation. First check vour
latest e-mail and make a note of anv points vou want to bring up.
Speaker A CEO of RJK (UK): You are current], attending an international conference in :\Iilan. Read
e-mails I and 2 on page 14).
Speaker B Creative Director, RJK (UK): You are currcntlv in the middle of a pitch for the Cl 'im
1-Ieinekcn account. Read e-mails :; and 4 on page l 32.
Speaker C Account Director, RJK (UK): You are current], on two weeks' holidav in l\Lrnritius. Read
c-mails S and 6 on p<1ge l )5.
Step 3
I Iolcl the teleconfcrrncc ming the agenda below. 'l 'he CEO should ch;1ir the meeting. Report what, cm
ha, c learned from ;om e-mail and tr, to commit to a clefinite course of action on which vou all agree.
The final decision. how ever, is the CEO's.
3 Action plan:
~ Change of location? If so, where?
¥ Switch to studio filming? Implications?
~ Change of actress? Contractual problems?
~ How to present change of plan to client?
~ Any other suggestions?
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•• - -
116 TELECONFERENCING
www.frenglish.ru
2 Read the meeting extracts and write a summary of Niels Well, I'm very much against these spending cuts.
each using the words in brackets to help you. Jon But they won't affect your department, Niels.
Jon First of all, I'd like to hear your views on this. Anna Jon's right. These cuts won't affect us.
(Jon/open/meeting/invite/comments/group) (there/be/some initial opposition/spending cuts)
Jon opened the meeting by inviting comments from the Anna So, you see, Niels, the new system will actually
group. be an improvement.
Anna I don't think this training programme is necessary. Niels Hm, well, on reflection, I suppose you're right.
Niels Neither do I. Jon So do I take it we're now in agreement on this?
(Anna/question/need/training programme. Niels/be/same (issue/finally/resolve)
opinion) Jon I think this is an excellent proposal.
Anna And what about the trainirrg budget for this? Anna So do I.
Jon I haven't made up my mind about that-yet. Niels Me too.
(Anna/raise/issue/training budget. [on/reply/rrot come/ (there/be/unanimous agreement/proposal)
decision) In reports
Niels So the board's OK about this? • it is more important to communicate the basic message
Jon Absolutely. than to repeat the exact words that were spoken
(Jon/confirm/project/give/go-ahead) • we tend to use the passive when what was said is more
Jon How about bringing in consultants? important than who said it e.g. It was suggested that ...
Anna I don't think that's a good idea. • long conversations are often summed up in a simple
(Jon/wonder/if/be/good idea/bring in consultants. Anna/ noun phrase e.g. There was some disagreement ...
be/against)
Niels Anna and I think the situation should be reviewed.
(both Anna/Niels/recommend/review/situation)
Down
l Looks like we're just . for Stefan. (7)
2 Can we keep our . quite short? (5)
3 I think that just about. . .... everything. ( 6)
5 Did everyone get a copy of the. . .... ? (6)
7 I'd like to be by 11 if that's OK with
everyone (8)
8 Right, we're ~ short of time, so let's
move on. (7)
Could I just in here? (4J
Elise? Hello? We seem to have Elise.
•
-
(4)
11 Could everyone in ,,._ just say 'Yes'? (6)
r 12 Let's move on to item four. (8)
15 to the meeting, everybody. (7)
• •
16 TELECONFERENCING I
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2 ~ 4. n Listen to a management trainer giving feedback to some trainees who have just finished the
negotiation in 1. Do you agree with the analysis?
3 Complete the collocations by matching the compound adjectives. Then match each adjective to its
definition. You heard all the phrases in 2.
a a single- sum game one which is verv direct
b a long- win situation one from which both sides feel they've gained
c a win- issue negotiation one that lasts
cl a one- term relationship one where one side wins what the other side loses
e a zero- on conflict one that happens only once
f a head- off deal one where only one topic is being discussed
4 You also heard the following expressions in 2. Can you remember the missing words? The first few
letters are given. The definitions in brackets may help you.
a There's little room for man __ . (It's difficult to change your position.)
b win at all cos...... . ..... (do whatever you have to do to win)
c It simply wasn't worth the hass .. . ..... (It was too much trouble.)
cl The negotiation ended in dead_ -· (Neither side was prepared to move.)
e resort to emotional black. (make people feel guilty to get what you want)
f reach some kind of comp ... ---··· (an agreement that partially satisfies both sides)
NEGOTIATING STYLE
1 \\'ork with a partner. Listed below are the ten most corrnuon high-prcsrnrc t<1ctics negoh<1tors use.
One of :'011 should match the first fi,,e to their description. The other shoulcl rnatch the second fi1·c.
'I 'hen colllp,irc notes.
The shock opener Make it look as though you are ready to leave the negotiating table if your
The vinegar and honey technique demands are not met, that you are not prepared to move an inch further;
The strictly off-limits ploy Point out at the start that, though you are prepared to negotiate A, B and C; X.
The take-it-or-leave-it challenge Y and Z are definitely not negotiable,
The 1'11-have-to-check-with-head- Having obtained a concession from your opponent, inform them that you need
office ploy your boss's approval before you can do what they ask in return.
Make unreasonable demands early on in the negotiation. When you later 'see
reason' and modify your demands, they'll be all the more welcome.
Make a ridiculous initial demand (or offer), but keep a straight face as you make
it.This works particularly well on inexperienced opponents.
The sorry-about-my-English ploy Don't make all your demands right at the start, Make a small demand and get
The good cop, bad cop approach agreement on it before you make the next, and the next ...
The once-in-a-lifetime offer Pretend not to understand any proposal you don't like the sound of.You'll
The salami technique make your opponent uncomfortable by forcing them to repeat it
The last-minute demand Pressurise your opponent by suggesting that the offer- you're making rs only for
a limited period and 1f they don't act quickly, they'll miss it.
After the deal has been done, make one modest extra demand in the hope
that your opponent will not want to jeopardise the agreement for one small
detail.
One of your team is friendly and flexible, the other unpleasant and
unreasonable.Your opponent will want to please Mr/Ms Nice to avoid Mr/Ms
Nasty
.I
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6 The following expressions from the negotiations in 3 show strong disapproval, but think twice before
using them yourself as they may cause offence. Complete them using the pairs of words in the box.
7 ~ 4.20-4.24 Listen to five experienced negotiators talking about strategy and answer the questions.
Speaker I What does Tl.E stand for?
Speaker 2 How can a friendly attitude be counter-productive?
Speaker 3 Why is silence more powerful than talking?
Speaker 4 How do you avoid pointless debates?
What are the two most useful phrases in a negotiation?
Speaker 5 What did the Huthwaite Research Group discover?
The speaker mentions three things it's better to phrase as questions. What are they?
8 Discuss the meaning of the following idioms with a partner. They were all in 7.
a Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.
b Play your cards close to your chest.
c Don't take 'no' for an answer.
www.frenglish.ru
2 \Vork with a partner to answer the following questions. If: ou've no idea, just have a guess! Then
check your answers in the article.
a Who are the world's wealthiest rock band?
b Who are the world's four most bankable solo performers?
c What is the bestselling album of all time?
cl What are the two bestselling singles of all time?
c Which pop song has been recorded in over 2,000 versions?
J~~- b .
111us1c us1ness
The world's biggest band fact, dead Elvis started out-earning live Elvis in 1988.
When Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie come on stage at The version of Candle in the Wind Elton John sang at the
the Giants Stadium in New York to 40,000 adoring fans, funeral of Princess Diana recently overtook Bing Crosby's
they have the satisfaction of knowing that the Rolling White Christmas to become the world's bestselling single
Stones are easily the world's wealthiest rock band. Having of all time and the most recorded pop song ever is The
generated more than $1.5 billion in gross revenues since Beatles' Yesterday, which exists in over 2,000 different
1989, two thirds of that earned on tour, they have made versions. But the real money has always been in albums,
more money than even fellow megastars U2, Bruce not singles. The top-seller is Michael Jackson's Thriller,
Springsteen and Sting. which has sold over 100 million units worldwide, more
than double the most successful albums of runners-up
Financial acumen
AC/DC, Eagles and Backstreet Boys.
Now firmly established rock legends, the Stones are also
a rock-solid business. It was their chief financial advisor, Rights and rip-offs
London banker Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein, who was With this kind of money at stake, it's not surprising that
first to see that, whilst concerts make the most money, the relationship between artist and record company can
music rights provide the steadiest income stream. And be an uneasy one, with young up-and-coming bands often
though the Stones may never have produced a real too dazzled by the prospect of stardom to look closely
blockbuster on the scale of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours or at the small print in their contracts. Even established
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Jagger and Richards performers like Prince and George Michael have had well-
have made over 40 albums and written more than 200 publicised clashes with their management. Courtney Love
songs. Each time they get airplay, they collect 50 per cent went so far as to file a lawsuit against Geffen Records to
of the royalties. According to Fortune magazine, that be released from her contract. And Mariah Carey found
amounts to $56 million in the past decade. Microsoft herself in the opposite situation, reputedly being paid off
alone paid them $4 million to use Start Me Up in the to the tune of £19.5 million when Virgin Records decided
Windows 95 commercial. it didn't want to record her after all.
Big business The future of music
The music business has come a long way since the Stones But soon it may be the record companies themselves who
started out in the 60s. In those days record labels like start losing out. Piracy already costs the industry $4.3
Motown, Island and Elektra all had their own distinctive billion a year, and with the arrival of MP3, only sound
sound, and you could have a string of top ten hits but still quality stands in the way of all music being burned onto
barely be able to afford the bus fare home from your latest CD on personal computers. Some 'Indie' music labels
sell-out gig. These days just five major music companies - like Bombco produce albums exclusively on the Internet
UMG, Sony, Warner, EMI and BMG - control 75 to 80 per and artists as high-profile as David Bowie and Coldplay
cent of all commercially released recordings and the sums have experimented with website launches of their latest
of money involved are huge. recordings. Of course, the major music companies have
fought back by creating downloadable music services of
Bankability
their own, but with more direct access to the consumer,
Today's most profitable solo performers remain Madonna,
bands may yet be able to fulfil their dream of being
Elton John, Celine Dion and Garth Brooks. The back
immortalised without first having to sell their soul.
catalogues of Sinatra and Elvis also bring in millions. In
4 : <1..:•'S A major record label is considering signing a new band. Listen to an extract from a meeting
between their A&R people (talent scouts) and senior management.
a Why does Kate think they have to sign the band quickly?
b What are the band's strengths?
c Why isn't Ronnie as impressed as Kate?
cl Why does Ronnie sound more enthusiastic at the encl of the meeting?
5 Work in two teams to negotiate a recording contract between the record company and the up-and-
coming rock band you heard about in 4.
Team A you are representatives from the band The Penitents and their managers. The high-profile
record company Starburst is interested in signing your band. See page 146 for your negotiating
objectives.
Team B you are executives from the record company Starburst and their lawyers. You are interested in
signing the promising new band The Penitents. See page 158 for your negotiating objectives.
www.frenglish.ru
Negotiation 2
Phrase bank: Negotiating
A You said we'd get 90 clays' free credit.
(were promised/90 days' free credit) Tl k· flll'i li:"l 1i1g; negotiation expressions are grouped
B Yes, but you said you'd be placing a larger order. .~e- 11lkli11;g fti"'ifr~ ir function. Alternate letters are missing
(respect/was understood/rather larger) ltot.n Ki\': w'M:rds, Complete them. Then rearrange the
A Look, this is getting us nowhere. We want free credit. h~·11dl11~.
(doesn't seem/getting/very far/afraid/must insist/ free BO PRING
credit) a Can you give us some 1 e of delivery times?
B Well, I can't offer you that unless you increase your b What k n of figure you were thinking of?
order. c We were hoping for something a bit c to
(unfortunately/unable/offer/you're prepared/slightly) $3000.
Negotiation 3
MAGEERENT
A We need a commitment from you today.
d So, in p i c P e, you're happy with the proposal,
(had/hoping/some kind)
right?
B Impossible! We're still unhappy about these service
e So, do I take we're in a
charges.
instalments?
(this point/might/a bit difficult/not entirely/service
charges) PROCIMOSEM
.........--.......- .....
A But you said you were OK about those! f Would you be w i g to meet us halfway?
(was assumed) g Surely, we can s r something out here.
B Not at all. Look, I think we should go over these figures TEXIFLIBLYI
again.
h I sui;_pose there may be some room for
(afraid/shouldn't we/figures/again)
m n e v. e there.
Modal verbs (would/might/could,
soften the verb.
etc) are often used to
..,
I don't think I could s r ....t h as far as that.
J We might be in a P. s t o to increase our offer.
Modifiers are common (e.g. a little difficult). k What we'd reallY. like to see is a bit more
m v m n on price.
Continuous forms keep your options open (e.g. We were We'd need to see a little more f e 1 1 ym
wondering; We had been hoping). terms of interest rates.
Introductory softeners (e.g. I'm afraid) warn that bad news ESSONCONICS
is coming! m OK, I'll t r w in free service and maintenance as
Negative adjectives like expensive are often avoided. well.
n I can't say f 1 e than that, now can I?
seem is common (e.g. We don't seem to agree.)
EJECTORIN
There's a lot of approximation (e.g. sort of). o 3% is not quite what we had in m n
Qualifying phrases are common (e.g. at the moment). p I'm afraid that really is our absolute bottom 1 n
q With r s e t, your terms are simply not
Alternatives are preferred to can't and won't. competitive.
The passive sounds less like an accusation (not You USINGFOREC
promised us ... , but We were promised ... ). r Look, g t i g back to price for a moment.
Suggestions are often phrased as negative questions (e.g. s Let's set the issue of discounts to one s d for the
Wouldn't it be better to ... ?). moment.
COMMISUNIMIONCAT
There seems to have been a slight
m_;; n e s a d n
!.1 I think we may be talking at c o
here.
17 NEGOTIATING DEALS :I
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My interest is in the future because I'm going to spend the rest of my life there.
CHARLES E. KETTERING, ENGINEER AND INVENTOR
1 How much of your job involves planning for the future? What was the last planning meeting you
attended? What was the outcome? Tell a partner about it.
2 In a time of rapid change, is there any point in trying to predict the future or do you agree with
Dilbert creator, Scott Adams?
3 All the adjectives in the box can be used to talk about the future. Add them to the timeline below:
SOONER+-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-..LATER
In the -··-·- .. __ _ ·~ ....-_.. __ , ·- _ _ ... ·-- ...... ..... future.
5 Present your ideas to the rest of your group. Be prepared to support your views.
2 ~ 4.26 Listen to a podcast about the future of intelligent computers. How do the pictures and
figures below relate to the key point made?
British
Telecom
3 The podcast you just listened to takes a light-hearted
look at computer technology and innovation, but do the ..... Discussion phrase bank
I think we have to ask ourselves
developments it mentions have any serious implications:
whether we really want ... or not.
• ethically? These forecasts take absolutely no
• financially? account of ...
• politically? The consequences of ... could be
far-reaching - for example, ...
Use the discussion phrase bank to help you. The real danger is that ...
I'm quite positive I sceptical ab.out
4 The world of IT is full of acronyms. Are you familiar with
But I really can't see us ·allowing ...
the following key ones? Use the words in the box to write them
out in full and then test a partner to see if they know what they
mean. You can use several of the words more than once.
LAN WAN MIS CRM MRP ERP MRM CIM B2B B2C B2E C2C CAD/CAM
Even-numbered Trends
Anchoring Atmosfear Being Alive Down-aging Egonomics
EVEolution FantasyAdventure PleasureRevenge
Odd-numberedTrends
99 Lives Cashing Out Clanning Cocooning Future Tense
Icon Toppling 5.0.5. Vigilante Consumer
2 Now compare ideas with your partner, explaining why you chose
the names vou did.
4 Which of the Trends best describe your own attitudes and behaviour?
5 Take 10-15 minutes to think about which of the Trends might have
most influence on the business you're in and prepare to give a short
presentation on how the TrendBank could:
a change one way in which you do business
b lead to the development of a new product or service.
1 Planning for the future isn't easv "hen we don't C\Tn know what industries w ill exist in ten to fifteen
years' time! Look at the list of jobs below, I low secure do x ou think they arc? What future social changes
and new technologies could potentially threaten them? \\!hich have the best long-term prospects?
high street bank manager business lawyer record company executive surgeon Englishteacher
fast food restaurant franchisee actor video rental store manager book publisher priest engineer
advertising executive comedian production line worker biochemist police officer web designer
2 Some cultures seem better able to take risks <111cl live with uncertaintv than others. Divide the
follmving countries into risk-takers and risk-avoiders. Then check your answers on page 159. Are there
<111)' surprises?
Japan China UK Brazil Italy Denmark USA France Germany Poland Turkey Hong Kong
RISK-TAKERS RISK-AVOIDERS
4 Alison mentions the importance of starting bv 'taking an industrx snapshot to get the big picture'.
'fake a snapshot of the industrv , ou'rc in or one that \'OU kno-v well and compare wit]: the rest of , our
group.
Customer Demands:
Technological Develoements
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5 : 4.28 Are mu reach- for vour first assignment' Listen to a voiceruail from the senior partner in the
firm, Ivan Ferrciro, and take notes on what you need to do.
6 ;\cm, in vour team, referring to ;·our industr, snapshots (where appropriate) and to the scenarios in
the Futurescape database below, compile a short report for the client.
Speak<i'!r A
1 Read out the following report to your partner. There are
seven discrepancies in it (marked in bold). Can your partner
spot them? If not, keep reading. Apologise for or justify any
discrepancies your partner points out. If you lose your place
in the text, ask your partner: 'Where was I?'
Engines roar, tyres SCJueat and $parks 'fly as
two-mitlion-dotulr supercars accelerate from Report: World trade fair
O to 2SO kph in under seven seconds. 2,00,000 Our exhibition stand at the World Trade Fair in Munich
spectators descend on SitVerstooe for rthiS was very successful again this year, attracting visitors from
fabulous sporting occasion that attracts a all over Munich. Although this was our first appearance
worldwrde TV aud'ienee of 350 million. From at the Fair, our people did a great job and handed out
your :trcH:kside seat you'U s0afl; up all the nearly three brochures.
~osphere of one of tjie most gJamorous
We met a group of Austrian business people at the
and s~lar events in~ mato1'1'rQcD;J~
Frankfurt Hilton, where we were staying, and arranged
catendar. VIP~am; ~~!19 ~®tJ!
a formal meeting with them by the pool. They were very
_ .........m;~
•• -
... interested in our products and said they would e-mail us
as soon as they got back to Australia.
Apparently, next year the Fair is being held outside
Europe for the first time - Paris here we come!
Banquet on board the Royal matter how confused your Wait a !T(jnu~ You
just said .. , o.1gr't
partner seems!
Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh you?
I ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
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02 EXCHANGING INFORMATION
bottom line ramp up reality check
Choose a bingo card from the selection below. blame-storming the long game scope out
core core
blame-storming upskill the big picture customer-centric
competencies competencies
·~r
scope out grassroots buy-in " upskill the next level the big picture
- "'" ....
paradigm shift the big picture drill down
Speaker A
the next level the big picture benchmark
Proposal: Positive discrimination
• Board alarmed at low number of women in management
buy-in blame-storming the long game
positions
• Men currently outnumber women 13: 1
scope out customer-centric paradigm shift
• Plan to introduce policy of positive discrimination
• For eighteen-month trial period only women appointed
outside the box drill down ramp up
to management positions
• No applications for promotion from male employees
accepted
mindset customer-centric push-back • Possible 'strategic demotion' of men to create more
opportunities for women
drill down reality check the long game Proposal: Work environment
• A lot of staff (3 5%) complaining about feeling tired and
grassroots scope out upskill stressed
• Board thinks one of main causes may be poor work
core
the big picture paradigm shift environment
competencies
• Feng shui expert called in - recommendations include
radical changes to office layout
• Reception area to be turned into a water-garden to create
positive 'chi' (energy)
• Internal walls to be removed to improve 'channels of
communication'
• Desks ideally to be moved during the year to remain 'in
harmony with the seasons'
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL I
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04 VOICE AND VISUALS You are director of the purchasing department for Mi Casa,
a large chain of furniture stores in Mexico. You like to get in
touch with your suppliers from time to time - not necessarily
Speaker A: Boss to do business, just to maintain the relationship. It's 10 a.m.
on Friday morning, most of your week's work is done and
You are a senior partner in a major management
the weekend is fast approaching. Phone Speaker B, the sales
consultancy. You have just attended a presentation by one
director of Mobelkunst, a designer furniture manufacturer in
of your best consultants to an important Taiwanese client.
Berlin, for a little chat.
Unfortunately, the presentation was an absolute disaster from
start to finish. Keep the conversation going by asking lots of questions
(using Speaker B's list as a starting point). You don't really
You forced a smile during the presentation but are now
want to do any business today, but Mobelkunst's stylish
going to tell Speaker B exactly what you thought of
chairs, tables and lamps have been very popular with your
their performance. Base your criticisms on the following
customers who love the bright colours and modern designs.
information. Try to end on a positive note by making some
If the terms were right, you might want to increase your
suggestions for future presentations.
order - even double it - for a trial period.
• Speaker B was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The
Taiwanese must have felt deeply insulted.
• You could hardly hear a word Speaker B said. CASE STUDY: HEAD TO HEAD
• They made no attempt to modify their English for a
foreign audience. Group A
• The PowerPoint slides were not working properly- it all Read the following e-mail from Chester Electrical's chief
looked very unprofessional. financial officer, Susan Cameron, and summarise the main
• The handouts were points to group B.
Useful language virtually illegible.
~·
Why did/didn't you ? There was no excuse 1
You. should{n't) have . for this: there was
Couldn't you at least plenty of time to
have ... ?
prepare. From: s.cameron@chesterelectrical.com
Don't you think it would To: c.brubaker@chesterelectrical.com
have been a good i9e'!
• You have no idea
to ... ? ~ what happened to Subject: Stock situation
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Speaker A
Hold short conversations with a fellow passenger, Speaker B,
on three different international flights.
Use the information below to get you started, but invent any
extra information you need to keep the conversation going
for a minute or two.
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Leader's brief: Open the meeting, inform those present 01 BUSINESS OR PLEASURE?
of HQ's proposal, make sure everyone gets a chance to
speak and no one dominates. Try to avoid digressions and
keep the meeting short. Give your own opinion only after
everyone else has spoken and try to reach a decision on what All England Lawn Tennis
recommendations to make to HQ.
Championships, Wimbledon
Meeting 3: Alternative management training(in favour)
You have heard a rumour that head office is planning to
(11 km from central London)
introduce a series of alternative management training courses Experience the nail-biting climax to the world's premier
for all levels of staff. You are about to attend a meeting to international tennis tournament as the true giants
discuss the subject. At the moment you are fairly enthusiastic of the game clash in the men's Wimbledon final. All
about the idea, but listen to what the other participants have
the tradition of vintage champagne and strawberries
to say before finally making up your mind. You already have
and cream combine with 225-km-an-hour serves
an MBA, but have never found what you learnt at business
and awesome cross-court shots to make what many
school much use in the real world of business. On the other
hand, an ex-colleague of yours went on a course to learn
about negotiating technique from an Olympic gold medal-
winning judo player and says it was the best business training
she's ever had.
Hidden agenda: You have a favourite cousin who runs a
company that teaches business people creativity through
song, poetry and drama workshops, stand-up comedy and
exotic sports like Zen archery and rodeo riding. He's not
doing too well at the moment and could do with more
clients.
Speaker B
If yqu don't know Speaker A well, swap lists of the following
with them before you start your telephone conversation:
• your partner's name, job and main interest
• your children's names, ages and main interests
• when and where you went on your last holiday
• your own main interest
• your favourite sport (spectator or player?)
• the name of a close colleague
• a problem you've been having at work recently
You are the sales director of Mobelkunst, a designer furniture
manufacturer in Berlin. Your stylish products are getting
rave reviews in the press, but business in Germany has not
been good lately. Fortunately, you have recently won some
very big overseas orders - one of them with Mi Casa, a large
chain of furniture stores in Mexico. The only problem is
Speaker A, Mi Casa's director of purchasing, who seems to
like phoning you rather too often for no particular reason.
It's 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon. You would normally be
getting ready to go home soon, but today there's been a
crisis to deal with - your factory in Potsdam has just turned
out 1,000 leather sofas in bright pink (rather than dark red)
by mistake. You're still trying to sort a solution out with
your plant manager. The last thing you need now is any
interruptions.
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05 PROBLEMS ON THE PHONE for prolonged periods - are all to some extent genetically
Ta<kflrig problems _
inherited, but the idea of genetic testing does seem quite
drastic and is bound to provoke a certain amount of hostility.
Speaker B
Leader's brief: Open the meeting, inform those present
At the end of each conversation, give Speaker A a score out of HQ's proposal, make sure everyone gets a chance to
of ten for (a) helpfulness and (b) assertiveness. speak and no one dominates. Try to avoid digressions and
keep the meeting short. Give your own opinion only after
1 Speaker . .will phone you with a problem. You are very
everyone else has spoken and try to reach a decision on what
busy at the rnnment (ynu decide what you're doing) but try
to give them some advice. rr )'f)Li can't, suggest someone they
recommendations to make to HQ.
could pl1one who mightbe able to help. Meeting 2: Employee surveillance (in favour)
You have heard a rumour that head office is planning to
2 You are Speaker A's boss. It's 6 p.m. and you still have a
introduce a system of checking up on employees using PC
mountain of papers on your desk to go through before the
monitoring software and closed circuit television (CCTV).
morning (you decide what sort of papers they are). Phone
You are about to attend a meeting to discuss the subject. At
Speaker A and ask them if they'd mind staying on for an hour
the moment you are firmly in favour of the idea, but listen to
or so to help you out. Be diplomatic but don't take no for an
what the other participants [rave to say before Finally making
answer - unless they can suggest someone else.
lJp your mind, You <Ire sure that huge arnc unts of company
3 Speaker A has just been promoted and you are now time and money are being wasted 'by employees accessing
their boss. But a colleague from an overseas division of your gaming and adult websites during workinti hums. You've
company (you decide who) is going to spend the next three even heard some of the male staff joking about it. An article
months working on an international project in your division you read in Business Week claims that employees who play
and they need to be provided with a suitable office. Speaker computer games whilst at work cost US firms $100 billion
A's office would be ideal (you decide why). Phone them and a year - or 2% of GDP. You also remember the famous
try to get their agreement without causing any bad feeling. case of Chevron, who, by failing to monitor computer use,
ended up being sued by four female employees who had
4 You have been working on an important report for nine
suffered sexual harassment through the internal e-mail
months. Because of a lot of unforeseen difficulties and
system. The company finally had to pay out $2.2 million in
complications (you decide what) you are a month behind
compensation.
schedule and now need six, rather than two, more weeks to
finish it. On completion of the report you are due to present Hidden agenda: You've heard that a junior manager in
your findings to senior management and you think they will your department, who seems to have his sights set on your
be impressed. Much to your annoyance, however, you think job, spends hours in private chatrooms on company time.
your boss, Speaker A, is going to try to speed things up by In order to catch such people, you think the computer
bringing in someone else to help you finish the job and take surveillance should be covert.
half the credit for all your hard work.
Meeting 3: Alternative management training (against)
You have heard <J rumour that head office is planning to
06 LEADING MEETINGS introduce a series of altemative rnanagernent training
courses for all levels of staff. You are about to attend a
In the chair
rneeliug to discuss the subject. r the m.0111e1rt you are not
Speaker A keen on the idea. hu.t listel'l to what the. ther participants
have to say before 11nc01y rv1aking up your rrrind. Frankly, you
Meeting 1: Genetic profiling (chair) don't believe lhat 'fads' like this represent very good value
You have been asked by head office to chair a meeting on for money. A friend of yours works for a frnn that-sent him
the possible introduction of genetic testing for job applicants and his colleagues to a Benedictine monastery to learn about
at all levels. Your company already insists on a medical 'Morality in the Workplace'. Predictably, it was thought to
when people apply for a job, as well as psychometric tests be a complete waste of time. You've also heard about weird
and checks on possible criminal records. Now they think a courses offered by drama groups, orchestras, circuses, the
genetic profile would help to reduce the risk of employing army and even the prison service where executives spent a
or promoting people with potentially serious diseases week in jail to build team spirit.
and mental health problems. The test would probably be
voluntary - this hasn't been fully discussed with the legal Hidden agenda: You have a close friend who is in charge
department yet - but refusal to undergo it may affect a of in-company training at a prestigious business school in
candidate's chance of employment or promotion. the United States. If your company booked a course, you
personally might get some kind of 'thank you'.
You have read that vulnerability to stress, alcoholism and
strokes - the three main causes of people being off work
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL I
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08 PROMOTING YOUR IDEAS company, you frequently engage their services. It's a
beautiful spring morning.
Situation: Your game is a bit off today. Although you're a
Team 1 better player than Speaker A and usually beat them, they
were actually a shot ahead on the sixteenth hole. Then they
I ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
for both commercial and educational purposes.
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• Until 1999 Bhutan was without TV and there was • You are coming back from a meeting in Paris to Rio
only one cinema. More needs to be spent on the where you live with your American partner, the crime
Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) and Sigma Cable novelist A. J. Bell.
Service. • Due to the cancellation of your business class Varig
• Bhutan's Internet ISP DrukNet, though popular, is flight, you've ended up in economy class on an
still too expensive (seven cents per minute), but the early morning Air France flight instead. And you
use of websites and e-mail has reduced international are already regretting this - there's barely room to
phone bills by 90% and should be promoted. move and the plane seems to be experiencing some
3 Bhutan's enormous potential as a tourist resort turbulence. You've never been a great flyer and are
• Many of the current improvements in Bhutan are the starting to feel a bit sick.
result of foreign investment, principally from India • Perhaps talking to the person sitting next to you would
and Singapore. Why shouldn't other countries be take your mind off it. But they seem to be reading a
encouraged to invest as well? book. Actually, the book looks quite familiar ...
• Bhutan's superb wildlife and fabulous mountain
3 Flight LHl 706 from Los Angeles to Munich, first class
scenery would be ideal for ecological tourism and
(2pm)
adventure holidays.
• You are a highly paid German-English interpreter
• Limiting the number of tourist visas to just 7,000 a
based in Munich and travelling back from LA, where
year and insisting that 86% of the land area remain
you've been assisting at the American launch of the
undeveloped is missing a huge opportunity.
new BMW sports car.
• Druk Air, the world's smallest commercial carrier,
• When you arrived for your business class flight this
consists of just two planes flying six or seven times a
morning, you were delighted to find that it was
week.
overbooked and that you had been upgraded to first
4 The youth of Bhutan
class.
• 45% of the population of Bhutan is under 15 years of
• You've had quite an exciting, if stressful, week in LA
age - it is time to respond to the needs of the younger
and are now thoroughly enjoying the flight home.
generation instead of living in the past.
You've had an excellent lunch and have just tuned
into the in-flight movie on your personal video screen.
14 OUT AND ABOUT • You've already seen the film, but don't mind seeing it
ln·fhght con111mations again as it stars your favourite actor, Al Pacino. And
anyway, the person sitting next to you looks like some
Speaker B big-shot multi-millionaire business type.
Hold short conversations with a fellow passenger, Speaker A,
on three different international flights. CASE STUDY: A WINNING FORMULA
Use the information below to get you started, but invent any 1 It's no secret that Roberto is constantly being approached
extra information you need to keep the conversation going by other teams and he's known to be unhappy at Moretti at
for a minute or two. the moment. But the rumour is he's been visiting Mario in
1 Flight BAI 311 from Dubai to London Heathrow, hospital and discussing plans to set up their own team with
business class (9pm) a mystery backer. Both Roberto and Mario are signed up for
• You are the senior partner in a small software just one more season with Moretti. Rumour reliability factor:
company specialising in computer-assisted 6/10.
engineering applications for the oil industry. 2 Francois has faith in Debora and is keen to develop her
• You are travelling back home from a series of role as Moretti's top driver, but first he wants her to prove her
meetings with potential clients in Dubai. It's been commitment to the sport by giving up the modelling jobs,
an exhausting trip and not as successful as you would the photo-shoots and the appearances in Hello! magazine to
have liked. concentrate on Fl. Rumour reliability factor: 8/10.
• Frankly, you'd just like to skip dinner and try and get
some sleep. First, however, you think you'll order a 3 Enrico is only going to give Fl one more season and if
success still eludes the team, he'll pull out of the sport before
martini while you update your client files on your
Blackberry. paying off his backers' investment He has confidence in
• You are not pleased to see that the person sitting Francois, but already misses the thrill of running the team
next to you, Speaker A, has a young child with them. himself. Rumour reliability factor: 6/10.
There goes your relaxing flight! 4 Toivo is about to go to the press with a story about how the
2 Flight AF6001 from Paris to Rio de Janeiro, economy di Angelo accident was in fact a conspiracy to get the
class (3am) 3 5-year-old driver out of the team and clear the way for a
• You are a financial speculator who specialises in more glamorous and newsworthy replacement. Rumour
medical, pharmaceutical and biotech stocks. reliability factor: 3/10.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL I
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16 TELECONFERENCING
•·.
Creative Director of RJK (UK)
Here's your e-mail:
Well, we've had eight days of incessant rain, two cameras No doubt you've already heard from Ridley.The good
damaged in transit and now the electricity generator's news is that Sandra's PA tells me she may be well enough
broken down. Whose idea was it to use a real desert for filming tomorrow. My suggestion is that we forget
island for the shoot? Oamu-Oamu and find a nice secluded spot here in Fiji.
Flying Sandra in and out from Fiji every day is proving I'm sure that would suit Sandra much better if she's
totally impractical. Didn't I say using a big Hollywood star still not feeling too well. I've sent some of the team out
was asking for trouble? She came down with some kind scouting the beaches for possible locations.
of tropical fever two days ago and hasn't come out of her The bad news is that the animal handler's gone missing.
hotel room since. So far we've only got about 15% of the You remember that we wanted to use real animals on
commercial in the can. this shoot instead of adding them digitally later? Well,
To keep costs down the crew are staying on Oamu- now I'm left here with 36 African parrots and a rather
Oamu until we're finished.Today is the first fine day, but lethal-looking python.
there's still no sign of Sandra, so we're just getting some Ridley seems to think we'd be better off doing the whole
footage of the island. thing in a studio, but I think it would be a shame to pack
I strongly suggest we either fly out a replacement or up and leave now we're all here. Might be rather hard to
seriously consider filming the whole thing in a studio in explain the unnecessary expense to the client, too.Are
Britain. we insured for this?
Ridley Hurst, Film Unit Director ·~
' Amelia Devine, Senior Account Manager, RJK (UK)
Speaker C Speaker B
Proposal: Language training It's Christmas Eve and you and your family are placing the
• Board keen to market products more internationally last few presents under the tree. Your partner turns to you and
• English now language of international business but many whispers how excited your young son is: 'Thank goodness
staff (65%) already speak it you bought him that new gaming system back in November.
• In board's view, Chinese is business language of the Apparently, the stores have completely sold out, and it's all
future he's talked about for months. You remembered to get him
• Mandarin, however, is one of world's most difficult the blue one, didn't you?'
languages
• Therefore, compulsory Chinese lessons (in employees' You feel a sudden surge of panic. Oh, no ... the Z-Cube
own time) to start immediately Gaming System! How could you have forgotten? You meant
• All new managerial staff to be obliged to accept twelve- to get one months ago, but you've been so busy it completely
month transfer to new subsidiary in Beijing slipped your mind. You mumble something to your partner
Proposal: Team spirit about going out to get some better lights for the tree and
• Board strongly believes not enough team spirit spend the next three hours searching every store in town. But
• Problem particularly noticeable at the production plant nobody has one. One shop offers to order it for you, but it
• Obviously takes time to build a team, but certain things will take at least a fortnight ...
could be introduced right away In desperation, you try a tiny shop in a side street. It's just
• Has been suggested a company song could be sung every about to close as you walk in. To your relief, you see they
mormng have one Z-Cube left - and it's a blue one. You can't believe
• The idea has proved very popular at big companies like your luck. It has a big label on the box saying 'LAST ONE'.
IBM, General Electric and Mitsubishi But as you head for it, you see another person with the same
• Second idea is that all staff (including managers) wear a idea (Speaker A) coming in the other direction. You both
uniform in new company colours - orange and green reach the box at the same time and grab opposite ends ...
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13
II Full service carriers
(FSCs)
•Jet airways
Conclusions and recommendations
• The two main FSCs do still lead the market, but have
lost considerable ground to the LCCs. Jet Airways
owes its continued success to its exceptional service
38.3
•Air India and reliability. But the fact that, when Jet acquired FSC
•sahara Sahara Airlines three years ago, it relaunched it as LCC
Low-cost carriers Jetlite, is a strong indication that value for money is
(LCCs) now the critical factor in this market.
•Air Deccan
• The LCC sector has gone from just 1 % of the market
• Other LCCs
to a phenomenal 52.6% in the last 5yrs because of
extreme price pressure and this trend looks set to
continue. It is unlikely that Eastern Promise could
succeed by increasing its prices and becoming an FSC.
But if it could gain critical mass {through acquisition of
another LCC?), it could offer more routes and would
enjoy certain economies of scale.
Service-price comparison
• Competition in the LCC sector is now fierce and there is
FSCs negative profit. Deccan, which pioneered the sector, still
Jet Airways leads, but it is steadily losing market share to its many
Full service Air India smaller competitors. This makes it ripe for takeover at a
favourable price.
• Eastern Promise is in serious danger of getting 'stuck
in the middle' - offering neither particularly excellent
service nor the most competitive prices. To succeed it
Basic service needs to be both bigger and more clearly differentiated.
1 Gordon Haves, 3 3, a British ex-champion driver has 3 The rivalry between 'l oivo and Oskar finallv exploded into
shown an interest in joining the team if the remuneration a full-blown argument a week ago with Oskar apparentlv
package is right. Toivo and Sonia support the recruitment yeJling at the end of a technicians' meeting: 'That's it, you
of a more mature and experienced driver. Francois and son of a b'"''ch. Either you go or I go!' and storming out of
Enrico oppose it - Francois because he'd like to develop his the room. It was especially shocking as Oskar is normally
voung drivers; Enrico because he's happy with the publicity so calm and in control. The situation was made worse hy
his current two drivers are attracting in the media. Rumour Nilda and Giancarlo appearing to support Oskar. Rumour
reliability factor: 7 II 0. reliability factor: 7 /10.
2 In the German grand prix last week Roberto deliberately 4 Sonia suspects that Toivo has some sort of hold over
refused to let Debora overtake him on the final lap to Francois. She's not sure what it is, but whenever the two
take second place and move up to sixth place in the disagree at a meeting, Francois seems to back clown, which
championship. Assisting a team-mate in this way is officially is certainly not in character, as he has no problem arguing
illegal in Fl, so he had a legitimate excuse, but in practice to the bitter end with other members of the team - with her,
drivers usually follow the instructions of their team boss if especially! Some sav 'Ioivo worked with Francois a long time
it means advancing the position of their fellow driver at no ago, but neither of them will talk about it. Rumour reliability
points cost to themselves. Rumour reliability factor 9/10. factor: 4/10.
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1 At the end of each pitch, record your initial impressions in the grid below. There's no need to
complete every box. Just note down your main reactions.
2 Use your notes and evaluation grid to discuss the merits of each business.
Sorry to bother you on holiday, but we're having major I must say I am very disappointed with the number of delays
problems with the Vivacity shoot. As you've no doubt heard on the Vivacity project. These problems with the film shoot
through the grapevine, we're running six days over schedule are just the latest in a series of expensive mistakes. I trust
owing to bad weather, logistical problems and a leading lady the extra costs will not be coming out of our agreed budget.
with a fever ... Your Group President Nathan Auerbach tried to persuade
I've been asked to look into alternatives and have come up me over lunch that everything was going well, but now
with the following, which I thought I'd better copy you in on: I'm told we may have lost our actress for the commercial.
1 If we fly the film crew home to do the commercial in a I should emphasise that in France the use of celebrities
studio, with set building, studio hire and post-production, to endorse products is a proven and powerful advertising
we could be looking at an extra €750,000. Plus we'd be technique. Sandra's appearance in the Vivacity commercial
unlikely to finish on schedule. was part of the original brief to your agency and any
2 Finding an A-list actress to replace Sandra at such short replacement would have to be approved by my marketing
notice would be extremely difficult, although there is department.
provision for her replacement, if unable to perform, in I might add that, as RJK's Account Director with overall
the terms of our contract. I did speak to someone at a responsibility for our account, I'm surprised to see you've
lookalike agency who said he had 'Sandra's twin' and found time to take a vacation in the middle of this crisis.
could let us have her for €5,000 a day. Thierry DuPont, Director of Marketing, Eternelle (Europe)
...
Jason Roberts, Account Manager, RJK (UK)
...... , •
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maltreated animals at the same time (in the UK this is leave with a golden parachute of $750,000 plus another $lm,
bound to get press coverage!) +3 if you want it, in stock options.
c Who's talking about bribes? In business it's as much who
If you scored more than + 10, well done, you get to keep your
you know as what you know. You're simply doing a good
job!
deed -1
August But less than +20 means your position is far from secure.
a This may raise eyebrows at the shareholders' meeting if it More than + 3 5 and you get a million dollar bonus. Of
turns out to be expensive, but ignoring safety issues is just course, the ethical thing would be to donate that to charity!
creating bigger problems for the future + 3
b You're just postponing the decision - you need to show
more leadership -1 11 SIMPLY THE BEST
c You seem rather mercenary -3
September
a It's a serious oversight that your pension fund is not more
socially responsible, but to change the fund's portfolio
without expert advice is equally irresponsible -3
b The wisest choice for all concerned + 3
c Avoiding strikes is not the issue here - you can't be an
ethical company and invest unethically -3
October
a This might have serious financial ramifications, but
mostly short-term - you'll find another distributor + 3
b You're making excuses - if you know the distributor
is guilty, you should act, regardless of the legal
proceedings -1
c Not only are you condoning corruption, you're
contemplating corrupting the justice system as well -6
November
a This will win you a huge number of fans in the anti-gun
trafficking movement, but ruin your company -9
b In some ways this is a clever move - by suing Colbert
(which you are legally entitled to do) you distance
yourself from their arms business, but can continue
to supply their non-arms business - but how long will
Colbert want to do business with you if you take them to
court? -1
c There's an element of risk here, but you can probably
get a better (and more ethical) outcome for yourself by
keeping the matter out of court +4
December
a A brave decision, but the golden rule in a crisis like this is
to be seen to be taking firm action and putting the public
interest first - so whether the situation turns out to be
better or worse than expected, this is your best policy +9
b You're playing the fiddle while Rome bums -6
c You're adding gasoline to the flames -9
Score
If you scored in the minus numbers overall, bad luck! The
board has voted you out of a job. Say goodbye to your corner-
office on the top floor, the gym and club memberships,
the five-star pension plan, your top-of-the-range Jaguar and
private use of the company jet.
If you scored less than -2 3 there are those who will try to
make sure you never work in senior management again!
If you scored between 0 and + 10, you're also fired, but you
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL I
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r.,
.: , • ' I • I , I iv ' ', '\ • l t; ~I ' 1
3 How to capitalise on the team's 2 ideals (things you'd really like to get, but not if it costs you
strengths the deal)
Are we maximising the talents of
the team members? 3 essentials (things you absolutely have to get or the deal's
off)
4 Rumours currently circulating
How, if at all, do these affect our 1 Band line-up Three of the four members of the band
decisions? - the lead singer/rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist and bass
5 Changes that could be implemented guitarist are exceptionally talented, though the lead guitarist
Who (if anyone) do we want to has a reputation for hitting members of the paparazzi and
hire, fire or redeploy? Would was recently involved in an unpleasant incident aboard an
training in team-building help? Do airliner that resulted in his being banned for life. The weak
we want to address the team
and/or talk to members link is the drummer, who simply must be replaced.
individually? 2 Term You are prepared to offer a one-album deal, but
would like to retain an option on at least two subsequent
albums, if the first is successful. You'd also like to keep the
3 DO THE RIGHT THING performing and recording rights to all the songs - otherwise,
if you don't renew their contract and they later become
successful with a different label, you won't be able to profit
a transparency: is the term used to describe a company's from their backlist of songs.
openness about its business practices and accounts
3 Royalties You think a 10% royalty on net receipts from
b shareholder: an individual or organisation that owns stock
album sales would be fair. This might be renegotiable after
ma company
the album, but you'd like to offset the initial risk of taking on
c recyclable: used goods that can be processed for reuse,
the band by maximising profits in the early stages.
d carbon neutrality: achieving a net zero carbon footprint
by offsetting the effect of CO, emissions ( eg. by paying 4 Deductions If sales of the first album are good (at least
into a tree planting fund) - 200,000 units), you may want to run a TV campaign. In this
e ethical trade: commercial trade in compliance with case you would like to deduct the cost of 20% of this from the
non-financial, as well as financial, standards eg. labour band's royalties.
conditions 5 Advances Since advances are normally non-repayable,
f biodiversity: the number and variety of plant and animal you'd prefer to offer a relatively modest one on the first
species in their natural environment album (say $120,000) and promise higher ones on later
g green tech: technological innovations with the objective albums once the band is established.
of reducing our impact on the environment 6 Territory As you'll be spending a substantial amount of
h governance: the activity ofleading and administering a time and money on promoting The Penitents, you require
company total 'universal rights' to sell their music globally.
social entrepreneurship: change agents who use
entrepreneurial skills and approaches to address social
7 Touring With a band like The Penitents touring is a key
part of building a fan-base. The band is particularly strong
problems
live and you would like to capitalise on that. You'd expect
bottom line: the amount of profit or loss after all the
them to tour for at least six months in their first year. Your
accounts have been calculated
preferred schedule would be: release two singles, record the
I ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
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first album and do the tour. You'd want 70% of the revenue CASE STUDY: THE FUTURE'S UNWRITTEN
from ticket sales but will pay for hotels, coach travel, clothes
According to intercultural guru Geert Hofstede, the cultures
and food while on tour.
can be divided thus (he prefers to talk about uncertainty-
8 Songwriting The standard songwriter-music publisher avoidance rather than risk-taking):
split on fees for airplay on radio and TV is 50: 50. You're quite
happy with this arrangement as long as you retain the rights RISK-TAKERS RISK-AVOIDERS
Denmark (23) Japan (95)
(see item 2).
Hong Kong (29) Poland (94)
China (32) France (86)
02 EXCHANGING INFORMATION UK (35) Turkey (85)
USA (46) Brazil (76)
Italy (76)
1 American 6 Italian Germany (65)
2 Russian 7 British Source: Culture's Consequences
3 German 8 Chinese The numbers in brackets give a more accurate evaluation of
4 Brazilian 9 Indian the level of risk avoidance. The higher the number the less
5 French 10 Japanese willing people are to take risks and live with uncertainty.
Group B
Here are the results of your research into the overall market
potential for travel and tourism in India:
. US FD! up by $50bn over next 5yrs offer. Demand is certainly growing - we need to be able
to handle a greater volume of passengers.
. Up to 49% foreign ownership of airlines permitted
Up to I 00% foreign ownership of airports I
• Alternatively, if Eastern Promise went upmarket and
. permitted
Modernisation of airports already in progress
offered a slightly more expensive but better quality
service, it could gain access to the top five airports .
. Greenfield development of private airports e.g. • There is obviously an element of risk in investing further
Bangalore in Indian domestic airlines. But, since we are already
l in partnership with Eastern Promise and the market is
growing, this may be the direction we have to take. As
1 Constraints on the LCC Sector:
. media mogul Sumner Redstone once put it: 'In order
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL I
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I
Q What do you like least about low-cost
air travel?
them.'
2 Answer a. 'Surround yourself with experts,' suggests Sloan.
I
'Brainstorm with colleagues - and also with mentors and
I Lack of room 70%
I
friends. The smartest people are those who know that others
Missed connections 68%
I
may be even smarter. Ask lots of questions.'
Having a middle seat 61%
Flight delays 55% 3 Answer c. 'To work faster, slow down,' says Sloan. 'Take
Baggage fees 51% naps. Take vacations. Don't work on weekends. Work
Long queues 41% shouldn't feel hard If it is, you're doing too much, moving
Being seated next to noisy children and babies 40% too fast, and not replenishing your energy - which means it
Lost luggage 37% will take you longer to accomplish tasks.' Resolving to work
Restrictions on liquids in hand luggage 36% around the clock (a) is a recipe for burnout and, while asking
Boredom on longer flights 35% your boss for more time (b) works occasionally, it won't help
Overbooked flights 32% your career in the long nm.
Poor quality,overpriced food and drink 30% 4 Answer b. Recent brain research shows that multitasking
Beingtreated like a commodity 28% reduces the brainpower available for either task and actually
Environmental damage due to fuel emissions 19%
slows you down as it takes time for your brain to switch from
Inabilityto use mobile phone during flight 11%
one task to another, says Sloan. If you're really swamped,
choice (c) may be an option, but don't make a habit of it (see
answer to question No. 3).
I ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
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~ I~
5 Answer a. Perfectionists usually think the right answer is CASE STUDY: HEAD TO HEAD
choice (b). But 'perfectionism is enormously consuming
THE BLACK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN
of time and energy,' explains Sloan. 'It results in dreadful
Sir Anthony Black, mastermind of a hundred hostile takeovers,
'paralysis by analysis' that is the enemy of good decision-
this week makes a bid to topple Clark Brubaker and the board
making.' Delegating the decision to someone else ( c) is of Chester Electrical, Penn. In a private interview, Sir Anthony
chickening out. responded to accusations of asset-stripping by saying that 'the
inevitable job losses at CE are, of course, regrettable, but we have
6 Answer c. 'If you want to strengthen your team's work
to face the fact that this company is now stone-cold dead. I didn't
ethic, create a 'play' ethic,' Sloan suggests. 'Commit to
commit the murder, but I saw it happen, and I want to make sure,
making work more fun.' Why? The happier employees are the people who supported and cared for this proud company
at work, the more energy they have for projects, she says. If throughout its life - the stockholders - get their proper inheritance,
that sounds counterintuitive, think back to your own career which is to say, a decent return on their investment. I am currently in
when you had great ideas and put in extra effort. It wasn't talks with several parties interested in purchasing some or all of CE,
when you were slogging through a chore; it was when you should our motion be passed at the AGM' ...
were working on something that was fun for you. Trying to
fix everything yourself (b) will burn you out and everyone BRUBAKER DIGS IN
Clark Brubaker, new CEO of embattled wire and cable
around you too.
manufacturer, Chester Electric, today brushed off claims that his
7 Answer a. 'Embracing differences forms bonds,' says Sloan. company was about to be torn away from him by CE's largest
'To build a cohesive team, find differences in age, culture, stockholder Black Investments. 'CE' says Brubaker 'is at the moment
thinking styles, experience, and skills - and build on them. in talks with the Pennsylvania state government about being
awarded tax breaks in an effort to save it from closure and the loss
Each offers an opportunity for a smarter team.' Ignoring the
of a thousand jobs in an area of high unemployment. Although I've
differences (b) or taking the time to learn the legal issues only been with the company a relatively short time, I already feel
a diverse workforce presents ( c) are fine, but they're not a huge responsibility to the loyal employees who have stuck with
likely to get you to the higher level of performance that true us through the worst period in our history and are now starting
diversity can generate. to see the green shoots of growth and renewal'. Brubaker remains
confident that stockholders will reject the motion to replace the CE
8 Answer b. 'To be more profitable, give it away,' says Sloan. board at their AGM next Friday ...
'Managers and companies that are philanthropic, and
focused on making their community and the world a better OUR WIRELESS FUTURE?
place, attract supporters and fans - not to mention loyal It's the dream of techies everywhere - a world without wires, a world
customers, clients, and colleagues.' Spending a day fixing in which data can be wirelessly networked between PCs, laptops and
up a local park or refurbishing a homeless shelter can be a smart phones anytime, anyplace. We have the technology, but are we
bonding experience for your team, too. any nearer the reality? Currently, wireless services are both expensive
and unreliable. When cellular signals fade and batteries fail, the
Now work out your percentage score. 60% and over shows safest thing may well be to plug it in! This must come as some
promise. Over 80% and you're a natural-born leader! consolation to shareholders in companies like Chester Electrical. ..
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL I
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Speaker B: Presenter
You work for a major management consultancy and have just
given a presentation to an important Taiwanese client. The Dear Mr Brubaker
presentation didn't go very well and unfortunately your boss With the Chester Electrical AGM fast approaching, I have
was in the audience. decided to end months of speculation and publicly confirm
that Black Investments has, to date, bought a 24% stake
You are meeting your boss now, and arc not expecting very in CE. The purpose of this private e-mail is to make sure
good feedback. Make it clear that the disaster wasn't entirely you are the first to know, although I'm sure you'd already
your fault. Defend yourself ming the following information, guessed. Of course, we would have liked our percentage
and assure your boss that this will never happen again. of the stock to be higher, but we have of late experienced
some reluctance to sell from the shareholders we've
• You've been asking your boss for a new laptop for ages - approached. Many of them are under the impression that
the one you've got just can't handle PowerPoint properly. they will be offered higher annual dividends to hold on to
• You've been on the road for four weeks and are their shares. I assume I have you and your team to thank
completely exhausted - this is your tenth major for this piece of disinformation. No matter.
presentation. To make matters worse, the laundry ruined As the single largest shareholder in CE, I have to say
your best suit and left you with virtually nothing to wear. that we are not at all happy with the way the company is
• You've no excuse for the poor handouts. It was obviously currently being managed.The wire and cable division is not
a printer problem and you forgot to check them. only losing vast amounts of money, the market itself is in
decline.You have a sizeable share of a shrinking market, Mr
• Nobody told you your 'l aiwanese audience hardly spoke
Brubaker. In fact, I would go so far as to say that many, if
any F.nglish - by the time you realised you were halfway
not most, of CE's products are uncompetitive and, in the
through your talk. light of recent technological developments, may soon be
• Some of your obsolete.
jokes may not have Fortunately, the company shares were well worth what I
translated very well, paid for them. No need to thank me for the recent rise in
hut you were just CE stock. If we do a quick bit of mental arithmetic, we can
It's not my fault. You trying to break the ice. work out that CE has $84,000,000 of assets. Divide that by
should have .,,,, the four million outstanding shares and we see that each
• You're sure the video
Somebody should.have . share is actually worth $21. Not bad when you consider
you were going to use
It might have helped if . that I bought most of my holdings for $1 1.44 a share just
was stolen from your
Look, I'm not try,(ng to a few months ago.And this doesn't even take account of
make excuses, but ...
hotel bedroom.
your much more profitable heating and plumbing divisions.
I can hardly be blamed for
• No one checked the We estimate that these could be worth another $40m
... ing, can I? microphone: the at least.Although these divisions are doing well, one is
Rest assured, it wcm<t amplifier was turned operating in a very small and uninteresting market and the
happen again ., clown much too low. other, though there's a large market for it, has a pitifully
low market share. Liquidation of all three divisions clearly
makes the most sense if we are to maximise shareholder
value.
In order to push the proposed sale of CE through at the
AGM, we shall be tabling the motion that the present
board of directors be replaced with one appointed by
Black Investments and with a mandate to sell off Chester
Electrical in its entirety.
I have asked for this motion to be added to the agenda.
Best regards
Sir Anthony Black CBE
I ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
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more, I think I'll scream
LISTENING SCRIPTS
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to consolidate_
w c'{l ah\a~s get\\ hat we've alwavs got And what got again?
B So \\hat~ ou're sa~ ing is let's do nothing
us where \\ c arc won 't get ns c hcrc w crc going A I'm <:lfra1d so, In fact, \\c mm he '.JO'lc c.lo"n >Jm,,
A No, I'm sa) mg let's consolidate this \\ill be the third quarter in a ro\\ \\ e \ e missed
B I'm sorrv?
B l .see And what will this 'consolidation' mean in our targets and, frankl~, 11nlcss things pick up
A What I menu is \\ e need to be thinking' outside the
terms of our staff? Redunchmcies, I suppose considcrahl~ nc'Xt qtwrte1, \\C 11101~ ha\e to rethink
box, maximising our crcativitv, Yes, that's right. I'm
talking about nothing less than a complete paradigm C \\'ell, ob1·iousl:, there "ill ha1 e to be some our\\ hole pricing slrateg~.
shift in the management of this compan). restructuring of the department C Arc ~ou suggesting "e introduce price cuts?
B \Vhat"s he talkmg about' B You mean people arc going to lose their jobs A If" e still cm, Anrn Certainh if \\'c'cl clone that a
C I don't know C It's a possibilih, 1 es c\nd \\ e nm also h<n c to ~car ago. it might ha\ c stimulated dcnrnncL But clo
consider outsourcing produchon to cut costs, it nm\ ;md \\ c ma~ encl up running at a loss As~ ou
A OK, the botlom line is: if\\ c don't figure out ho\\ to
B Ill other \\ords, our assembl~ plant ma~ be closed kno\\, \\ c 're bare]~ breaking e\ en on some of our
tum this operation around, we have no future in this
elm\ n too. I can't belie\e I'm hearing this! product lines as it is
business So, let's look at the big picture and then sec
if « c can drill clm1 n to the details. A Of course," c won't be able to finalise an~ thing D Surel) )Ot1'renot saying it's time to phase them
toclm. out!
D Can I just s<i~ something, Dm~ l?
B You mean \\e'll ha\c to hold <:mother meeting! If A No, no, of course not ,-\t lea.st, not \et But\\ hat I
A Fire a11<11, Kclh.
"c\ c all still got a job b1 then, that is am sa~ ing is that" c need to keep production costs
D Erm, I don't think we're quite with )Oll
de)\\ n somchc.m if\\ c ''ant to remain competiti' e
A Yes, 11ell, I'm glad 1ou raised that pomt. .\lan
A Ah, right. "No, that's OK I was expecling a certain B Does this mean \\'e shoulcl be in\ esting 1nore in
amount of push-back to begin v rth But it's \er~ B \\'hat do ~ou mean?
nc" technology?
important I get )OUr buv-in on this So let me put :) ·LOS A If 011h it\\ as that simple, Frik But right nm1 11e're
it simplv, \\'hat\\ e ha, e to do is scope out the
not r~all~ m a position to im est in an~ thing, C\ en
compctifiou. establish w hat our core competencies
if \\e \\anted to No, I'm afraid the situation calls
are and then benchmark ourscl, cs against the A Right, I'm allm1 ing an hour and a half for this
for more drastic action It's clearl~ time for a maior
current market leader meeting Kate is going to fill us m on hm, the
rcstn1cturrng
B But I thought \\C were In ing to be different from the appraisals" cnt That'll tJkc about a quarter of an
hour or so So that onl~ gi' es us +5 minutes to deal
D Are mu telling us there could be layoffs?
competition. Darvl?
\\ ith e1 en tl11ng else. We'd better get started A I don't see hm\ \\e can a\oicl it, James- unless, of
A That's the long game, Tim.
course,\\ c call get some of our people to accept
B The long g;_1111c7 B Som, I thought\\ c had an hour and a half
reduced hours
A Yes. that's our long-term object» c A What? Oh. 1eah. som \\'e\e got 7) mmutes,
C You mean some kind of job-share scheme?
h,n en't \\ c' Still, there's a lot to get through
B Oh, I sec A Yes, either tlrnt 01 introduce a four-da\ \\eek -
b
A But 1 ight now \\ c're struggling just to compete If
A Look. it's no good going on about pa~ rises \Ve pa~
prm iding the unions don't oppose it Or
course, it's
\\C can onlv learn from our competitors. then we'll not 1ust a question of cost.s, It's also a question of
be able to upskill our 0\\11 people, ramp up product ncarh h\ ice \\hat most of our competitors do_ f\ncl I
product The fact is. better products are coming onto
dcv elopment, become more cuxtomcr-ccun ic and reall~· don't see hm, people can c\.pcct another salar)
the market all the time
start to take this compan~ to the next lev el increase this ~c<Ir, \\hen the~ 're alre<Jcl~ earning three
timc.s the m crage rate
D So you're Sa)ing \\e should be spending more on
C Erm, ai1d) ou icallv want our input on this? R&D.
B Hang on a second You said\\ e pa~ t\\ ice as much,
A '{cs, Nigel. Change begins at the grns.sroots in an A As I\ c said, capital Ill\ cstmcnt is 110 longer 811 option
not three times
orgamsahon Empm,cm1cnt-that's "hat this is all for us. Porn am more mone\ into R&D and \\e'll
about A Hm' Oh. all right, t11 ice as much, then. It's still a lot
simph slide fmther into debt. And then there arc all
more than '-''en hod) else
D Dani' the problems \\ e \ e been hm ing \\ ith our mer.seas
A Yes, Kcllv, distributors
A You knm1 as\\ ell as I do that this project" as B Does this 1nean )Ou're thinking of centralising
D Hnv e ~ ou e\ er plav eel buzz-v or<l hmgo?
supposed to tc1ke sixteen \\eeks And this isn't the distribution?
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A Well, that's one option, yes. llut even if we decided tend to he more focused on the bottom-line here,
to do that, and it's a big if, it would take time to cspcciall) with the econom) the \\a) it is right now
~ 1.15
implement- time we simply don't have As ~OLI We don't like the idea of compromising profirubihtv February Right, well, this is a rather delicate issue, but
know, our share price has fallen to an all-time low So for us, CSR is more a matter of compliance '' ith you've probably heard reports of several of our junior
of just 85 cents And I wouldn't be surprised if, b, government regulations - we try not to have too and middle managers in the Ne" York office being
our next meeting, ifs fallen even further, The fact many of those - and doing the minimum, reallv, found to have drug-related problems, which, in some
is, we're selling old products at inflated prices in a to keep things legal Frankl), I'm pretty sceptical cases, ha' c affected their" ark Unfortunatelv, the
volatile market through inefficient distributors. about these big oil and sports goods firms who top press managed to get hold of the story and made
D I hope you're not suggesting the situation is the league tables of sociallv responsible companies the situation look even worse than it is, The HR
hopeless. every) car Mentioning no names, but how come department's proposal is that clrug testing now be
A Well, let's put it this wav: we've cancelled the thev seem to be the ones involved in all the legal made a condition of employment and that random
battles to do with corruption, pollution and working drug tests be carried out pcriodicallv on all levels of
Christmas partv!
conditions' I read somewhere that 60% of all CSR personnel below board level Many companies nm'
~ 1.10 initiatives are really just public relations. And that have 8 similar policy and we don't want to be seen to
figures. If vou set up a multi-million dollar charif be condoning illegal substance abuse. So, shall we
:tt
in Lima, perhaps the media will stop noticing that give HR the go-ahead?
A Right. Basicallv, the position is this the contract is you're cutting down rainforests in the Amazon. Ancl
ours if we want it compared with the cost of advertising, let's face it, ~ 1.16
B But we're not in a position to take on another CSR works out pretty cheap March Item three: minoritv-ow ned businesses As
project right now, arc we? you've probably heard, there's a new initiative by the
A I know Jan, what's your position on this?
:; 1.12
gO\ cmmcnt to promote diversity in the Sl\lIE sector
b Speaker 2 I think it's fair to sav that Scandinav ia is in favour of small and medium-sized businesses
A Look, it's not just a question of software, right at the forefront of CSR Sweden has actuallv launched b) minorities, particularlj in areas of high
Alessandro. passed a law to shut dow n its nuclear reactors and unemplox ment and ethnic tension We're being
B Of course not It's also a question of hardware The explore alternative energ~ production, Denmark was asked to commit to a certain percentage of our
the first country in the w orld to use wind pm\ er as a suppliers being sourced from this minority-owned
entire system ncccls upgrading.
significant contributor to its national electricity grid group Clearly, this could affect om bottom line, but
A But that's out of the question We can't afford that
In Iceland, Shell opened the" oriel's first In drogcn we can keep the percentage fairl) low if we want
kind of capital outla,
fuel station And here in Nor« ay the government has So, vour thoughts? Arc" c going to agree to quotas
c now ordered firms to make sure that at least 40% of or not?
A Sales arc down. One option would obviously be to its board members are w omen All quite irupressiv c
cut our prices. How ever, Scandinav ians haven't such a good record ~ 1.17
B That's no longer an option for us We're bmcl) further from home A fe11 'ears ago, IKEA had April Nm,, finalh, I'm som to report that the latest
breaking even as it is problems with child labour in some of the factories figures prm e that our mmmfacturing plant in
A Well, then we've no option but to rethink our whole it was outsourcing to and they weren't the onl) ones, Venezuela is no longer econornicallv viable Closure
marketing strategy of course That was a wake-up call for us all, And, is, unfortunate I), our on]', option What we must tr:
in my opinion,\\ e still ha. cn't gone far enough to do is minimise the impact on the local communit,
d
with CSR 'I'he « ord 'sustainabilitv alwav s sounds and ccouomv \Ve are, of course, currcntlx the
A \Ve1l, there's no easy answer to this, but how about
to me vcrc modest As if our main .aim \\~s just to biggest emplo, er in the region and m<.111) other local
voluntarv redundancv?
stop things getting too much worse. But can't we do businesses depend on the presence of the factor)' and
B I don't think that's the answer, but mavbe \\ e could better than that? After all, 11 hat we do no" "ill affect its \\ orkcrs So\\ hat, if anvthing, should we do?
reduce people's hours generations to come I think we should keep the
A That might have been the answer if « e didn't '' ords of the famous American medical researcher ~ 1.18
alreadv have a strike on our hands! 'er: much in mind, 'Our greatest responsibility' he
Mav OK, now I know we've discussed this before, but
v said, 'is to be good ancestors'.
the issue has come up again Several of our younger
A No11, let's not make a problem out of this, What if managers have requested paid leave to pursue
we just pulled out of Sudan?
~ 1.13
short-term voluntary work,'' hich the) are claiming
B Well, I've no problem with that, but our partners Speaker 3 Ah, I think in China CSR is still something "111 be beneficial to their personal and professional
won't be happy \'Cf) new For us, the focus is more on \ olunteering development, Now, there's absolutely no provision
A No, but that's not our problem, is it' The political and charitv \\ ork than on changing the" a~ we do for this in their employment contracts, hut it is
business. 'I 'hat's partlv cultural, partly economic. In common practice at some of our competitor firms.
situation is just too unstable.
Asia, taking care of) our communitv is important. If restricted to, sa), one percent of our management
'I'hat's w hv much CSR addresses local concerns In level cmplovees, the costs would be bearable, but
A I'll get straight to the point We're getting too marn China that would be HIV, SARS and the condition there \\ ould obviously be some disruption to the
customer complaints of roads, \\ hich is very bad - manr accidents C\ er) smooth running of certain departments An~ wa), I'd
B I agree with vou But the point is" c don't ha, c the 'ear! But w e know that the success of China is like to hear' our reactions to the idea
staff to deal with them our cornpctiti, e labour costs, so <Jn) CSR must
A That's beside the point We shouldn't be getting be cost-effcctiv c \Ve arc al" avs aware of the cost ~ 1.19
them in the first place' of changing our behaviour Ami if the cost is too
June Those of you who have dealings with the
g high, \\C won't do it But I read receutlv a report b)
production department know that some of our
A I'm afraid the situation is serious And if the press the Economist Intelligence Unit which shows that
manufacturing processes fall outside the proposed
companies which pa) attention to snstainabilif
get hold of the storv, government guidelines in terms of safetv Now,
issues, they sec profits rise more than h\ ice as much
B Look, we'll deal with that situation if and when it whilst these guidelines will probabh not come
as companies which have a poor CSR record. You
arises Let's not panic just) et, into legal force for at least three) ears, health and
have the expression in the US: 'Cood gms finish safctv groups are calling for all socialh responsible
A You're right What this situation calls for is calm last!' But mav be this is not true! I think the" orld is
and careful pl<Jnning companies to phase out the existing procedures
VCT) insecure right now And ma) be to be a cornpan~
before then. Clearlv, we arc not legalh obliged to
h ) ou can trust is a goocl thing for business!
do so, bnt v, ould it create better relations \\ ith our
A The fact is, we're simpl) not spending enough on
staff and the public at large if we complicd w ith their
R&D ~ 1.14
wishes?
B As a matter of fact, we've doubled om R&D budget January OK, so noww e come to the main item on our
this vear agenda for this, the first of our rnonthlv meetings As ~ 1.20
C That may be so, but the fact remains w c're losing you know, we've just completed the annual audits
July Just to update evef) one on where we arc w ith the
our technological lead, of our Asian plants Cenerallv, the results are a great
proposed storage facilin outside London We Im c
improvement on our last audit, but I'm afraid that
located a suitable brow uficld site in East London,
working conditions there arc still far from ideal
03 DO THE RIGHT THING There's also a question mark mer the age of some
'' hich means it can be cleared for ne\\ building to
commence \Ve've put in a bid for the site,\\ hich
of the machine operators and the number of hours
~ 1.11 "c belie' c 11 ill be higher than competing bids. So
the) 're expected to work. Now, we are taking steps to
"hat's the problem? Well, I "as contacted earlier
Speaker I I think in some wa)'S, America's just bring standards in linc w ith our factories mer here,
in the \\eek b) a l'vls Hughes,'' hose organisation is
catching LIP with Europe w hen it comes to CSR, if but this will take time. The question is do we publish
one of the other bidders for the site i\pparentiY, she
'catching up' is the right 11 ord Sustainability's been this audit to show that w e ha. e nothing to hide or
nms an animal welfare orgr.misation '' hich is hoping
I
a buzzword in the EU for over a decade But w e keep it confidential at this stage'
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~ l lSTEflll!IJG SCRIPTS
to use the area to build a sanctuary and veterinary gcneratton. They're the new young professional
hospital for abandoned animals and she's asking us
~ 1.25 audience, Generation Y, Millennials. And thev don't
to withdraw our bid, to enable her to go ahead and December OK, first of all, thank you all for coming like the direction the program is going in
purchase the site. Now, I know what you're thinking: in at such short notice. As chairman of the board, A Generation Y, Millennials! Now don't start all
why should we care? Well, perhaps we shouldn't, I'd like to be able to congratulate everyone on a that marketing-speak with me, Malcolm We offer
except that Ms Hughes is also a prominent local successful first year But you know I haven't called business-themed entertainment by getting mega-rich
councillor and, as you know, we are currently you away from vour friends, families and holidav venture capitalists to tear struggling entrepreneurs to
seeking council approval for major extensions to all festivitie.s to ha1~d out congratulations. Ladies a1~d pieces on prime-time television ... and occasionallx
our London-based production facilities, gentlemen, we have a serious crisis on our hands and give them a half million bucks for their trouble!
we must act fast. In the early hours of this morning, B Exactlv, And that's what our audience doesn't like
~ 1.21 an accident between two vehicles in one of the any more- They're tired of the egos and the greed
August I've just received the results of our internal loading bays at our main facility in Portland caused and the sarcasm. \Ve ran a survev and 64% said they
report into waste management It seems that a lot an explosion that ignited flammable chcnucals wanted the show to feature more socially responsible
of the raw materials we buy 111 are sitting in storage which were incorrectly stored You may remember businesses
so long, they are going past their use-by elate and we've had storage problems before - perhaps we
A Oh, Ill) god. You want to change the progrnm
then being thrown away. Some of the more toxic should have dealt with them sooner. Anywav, in
formula mid-series?
chemicals are also starting to leak and present a spite of our best efforts to contain the damage,
B That's not all, 19% would like to see more female-
health hazard. Now, we got through the last health it's looking as though certain contaminants mav
managed ventures At the moment, less than one in
and safety check OK, and we're not due another have been released into the atmosphere, We won't
five of our contestants is a woman That's disgraceful,
official check for two years, so the question is: should know for sure until our chemical experts have
as a matter of fact 11 % want more contestants to
\VC review our purchasing and storage procedures conducted tests, but if this is the case, the health
come from developing countries, especinllv Africa
now or wait until next year? Obviously, the present threat to the local comnmnitv could be sev ere. Some
I agree with them. And 6% are fed up with the
system is inefficient and is losing us money But preliminary estimates of the possible consequences
aggressi\·e \vay the lions treat the contestants It's not
perhaps it is not yet a priority. are in the reports in front of you. We could be
amusmg any more
talking a major evacuation of the area and a fortune
~ 1.22 in compensation which our insurance may not A But that's what the whole program is about' They're
fully cover, Television crews from the major ncv . -s supposed to be lions, for god's sake, not pussy-cats
September I've been asked to add an important item to
channels are already filming and reporting on the You want a save-the-world show, go ahead But that's
our agenda, which is the question of our employee
fire, but are so far unaware of the danger of chemical not this show !
pension fund As you know, we have to disclose b)
poisoning I'm counting on you to come up with B Ruth, I'm not sa)'ing we have to change the whole
law to what extent our fund takes account of the
a crisis management plan before the end of this formula. But can't we make it greener? Tame the
environmental, ethical and social impact of our
meeting So let's get to it' lions a bit? Ci, e the show a conscience?
investments. Our trade union representative has
brought it to our attention that historically our fund A What if I sav no?
has not taken sufficient account of these issues and CASE STUDY: CASH OR B Well, I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. But,
that this is both socially irresponsible and, in the if we keep sliding in the ratings, \\ e ma) have to
light of the current CSR programme, somewhat CONSCIENCE? reschedule the show for off-peak viewing.
h) pocritical I have to say I agree with her on this last A Whoa: No« wait a minute ...
point if nothing else However, I'm not convinced ~1.26
that ethical inc cstment offers the same long-term A Malcolm, can we keep this short? Onlv I'm clue at
~ 1.27
returns, To date our pension fund has performed the studio in just over an hour. I'm having problems Presenter Good evening and welcome to The Lion's
well. So what should we do? with my program editor and the next show goes out Share Here in the den the lions are alwavs on the
in three clays, lookout for a business they can grow into something
~ 1.23
B Take a seat, Ruth huge. Have our entrepreneurs got one for them
October If you read the international newspapers tonight? First up from Argentina is SojaCen .
A Ah Whv do I get the feeling this isn't going to be a
this morning, you'll know that the bribcrv scandal Cristina Hello I'm Cristina Artaza and this is mv
short meeting?
surrounding our distributor in Kazakhstan has now business partner Francisco Michetti \Ve are the
B I assume you've read your advance copy.· of the
become public. It's true that a final verdict has not founders and joint-CEOs of SojaCen Ancl we're
programming report?
yet been reached by the authorities, but I don't think looking to raise half a null ion dollars to take our new
anvone here doubts what the final outcome will be. A Not in detail, no Whv? ls this about our viewing
and exciting enterprise to the next level
Now, the question is: do we stand by our distributor figures again?
Argentina has three key resources that make it a
until the result of the legal proceedings is officially B Of course it's about our viewing figures, Ruth. This
real magnet for venture capital: inexpensive land,
known or pull out now and avoid the bad publicity is a television station
relatively cheap labour and massive production of
which is sure to come? I don't need to remind vou A Malcolm, we've been through this .. So, we're a little sov beans! These three resources arc the foundation
that we have so far been unable to locate another down on the last two series, So what? We're still of our business model. No, we're not talking about
1
suitable distributor in the region pulling in fifteen million viewers, aren't we? We're
soy-milk or vegetarian meat substitutes. We're talking
still number one in the nine o'clock slot When we
~ 1.24 about a biodicsel micro-refinery, tapping into the
start to slip in the ratmgs, then I'll worry,
fuel of the future
November In view of the seriousness of the final item B I'm already worried. Look at this In the middle of Francisco The global biofuel market is worth around
on our agenda, I've asked for this meeting to be the last series we peaked at 22 4 million viewers So fifteen billion dollars and expected to triple in the
extended to give us sufficient time to consider the far this series we've dropped to I 3, I million and mv next five rears In Argentina. the gm ernment has
implications of the decision we must make. After a analysts are saying that trend is going to contmue
just passed a law requiring that 5% of all domestic
long internal investigation, commissioned by us m A We've had a fe" disappointing months, that's all. fuel consumed must be biofuel The famous
collaboration with an international arms reduction B The numbers don't lie, Ruth, For series two and Hungarian financier and philanthropist George
organisation, we have discovered that Colbert Inc ,
three our advertising revenues were 190 and 193 Soros has already invested a quarter billion dollars
one of our major customers is using some of the million dollars Look at ad revenue now We're in hiofuel development in Argentina So the timing
components we supply to build weapons_ Now, we've
projecting it'll be down to I I 0 million by series-end couldn't be better. And Cristina and I have masters
known for some time that a small part of Colbert's
For heaven's sake, it was 140 in series one! degrees in geology and engineering and twelve years'
business has been legally manufacturing weapons for
A Now, take it easy, Malcolm A program alwav s loses experience between us in the oil industry at Exxon
the ministry of defence, but we have always insisted
momentum a little after three series, and Amoco
that our components arc not put to this use. That's
B We're losing touch with our audience, Ruth Have Cristina Biodiescl is a remarkablj inexpensive form
in our sales contract More worrying still, there arc
you seen the latest audience breakdown figures? of renewable energy, made from refining oil from
rumours that some of Colbert's products are finding
More than a third of our audience are in the twenty plants like soy beans. The most profitable mche is
their way onto the open market, supplying the usual
to thirty age bracket. I called in an independent for commercial vehicles and this ls the sector \\C
assortment of terrorists and military dictators with
market research team Here vou can read it for aim to target selling mostlv to agribusinesses. Local
state-of-the-art weaponry This is, I'm sure you'll
yourself. Twenty to thirty: 34%. Tlurtv to forty: 26% farmers actually account for 75% of the diesel market
agree, very disturbing news, And I think our decision
Forty to fifty 22% Fifty to sixty: 12%. Over sixtv: in Argentina
in this case would be clear, were it not for the fact
that Colbert is our second biggest customer and has well, who cares, but it's, er, 6%_ Francisco Just to be clear, we're not talking about
been for fifteen years. Losing their business would A We've always attracted a young professional setting up a fifty-million dollar refinery with a
have a catastrophic effect on our sales revenue and audience What's your point, Malcolm? hundred staff. There are plcntj of large-scale biofuel
would certainlv lead to mass redundancies and, who B My point is: that our audience is not the old refineries already in Argentina But we, along with
knows, perhaps the collapse of this companv young professional audience, the money-grabbing many clean-tech experts, believe the market is open
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to smaller players like ourselves to better serve the about 17% annually Yet the HC\V super-rich continue some of the townships that surround the city, It
smaller customer Off-the-shelf technology is now to enjoy subsidised housing and relativelv low taxes. seemed to me that here were poor areas that needn't
available which can lower plant construction costs This means the) have huge disposable incomes of be poor The climate is suitable for many kinds of
to as little as a hundred fifty thousand dollars for a wluch many in the West can only dream agricultural and recreational activity, but there's
micro-refinery which can produce a hundred thirty Vladimir And this is where Elita comes in. Networking a massive skills shortage, particularly amongst the
thousand gallons a year
in Russia is not so straightforward as it is in the women. So, with my business partners, who I met on
Cristina We're looking initially to establish three micro- West, Because of a certain amount of- shall we the MBA course, I decided to change that I gave up
refineries in northern Argentina, where we have say, unconventional business practices? - it is not my job on Wall Street and we formed the company
good contacts with the local farming community easy to burlcl good professional relationships Doing N'namdi The Ulundi Township Confectionery
Many of them are themselves soy bean producers, business is also more complex. There is low credit Company currently employs ten women in Ulundi
so by sourcing our soy from them and selling the card penetration and the postal service is mostly to bake cookies and cakes to local recipes to sell to
biodiesel back to them to fuel their machinery unreliable Russia is not friendh to e-commerce nearby cafes and hotels Just last month we won our
and delivery trucks we create 8 virtuous circle \t\le Fhckr and Linkedln have already been cloned by first order to supply a domestic airline We've been
need a half a million dollars to add to the half a Russian companies, but what docs not yet exist in business now for two years, funding our operations
million we've already raised to continue with our is a social nehvorking site for the wealthiest I 0%, mostlj ourselves, hut in the last few months we have
construction plans and we're offering in return a We believe the time is right for an online network started to move into profit Our business model is
65% stake in our business, through which selected members can do business simple: we don't employ people to bake cookies;
Presenter OK, thank you, SojaGen That's your two with like-minded professionals and buy everything we bake cookies to employ people. There's no lack
minutes, Lions? from a Porsche to a Picasso! of talent in poor areas, only a lack of training And
Lion I OK, so as I understand it, you've nm out of Boris The important thing is to keep membership fairly I don't need to tell you that there's no lack of poor
money, right? exclusive The key, we believe, is to hire a handful of areas to draw that talent from, By the way, did I
Cristina Well, erm, I wouldn't put it that way Our wealthy socialites and business leaders and promote mention that our cookies are probably the best in
first refinery is already in operation, but to achieve the site through word-of-mouth and viral marketing the world?
economies of scale we need to bring the other two It is essential, however, to be the first-mover. to be Angelina We are definitely not out to save the world,
on-stream and that requires a further injection of the first into this market The second one in will be, bi the way, but we do believe it's possible to create
capital at this stage, er, dead meat, as you say in the States social change and real businesses at the same time.
Lion 2 It seems to me that the biofuel market in Vladimir We're looking for half a million clollars to Networking is crucial to the smooth running of our
Argentina is already overcrowded There appear develop and market the Elita site and 11 e will offer company In the early stages, we were fortunate
to be a lot of big investors moving in You admit one half of our business for this investment enough to find a local food company prepared to
as much yourselves. Why should we back a tiny Presenter Thank you Elita Lions, do vou have any donate our first ovens. And more recently Diana has
organisation like yours? questions? used some of her contacts in New York to put us on
Lion 1 So, your website doesn't yet exist? the verge of winning a large export contract with
Francisco Our business model rs based on setting up
low-cost micro-refineries in rural areas to serve the the help of a friendly advertising agency to promote
Boris That's right We require the seed capital to
our brand
local community We can sell the fuel for two-thirds finance its development.
the cost of diesel And that rneans v.. Lion I And what's that going to cost?
Diana All this means we need to expand into other
Lion 3 Wait a minute! Wait a minute! We're not asking townships in the region to increase production
Boris Web designers are very plentiful in Russia And We see no reason wh, a successful business model
you how you compete with conventional diesel salaries relatively low, say about forty thousand US cannot be replicated in any number of similar
refineries That's clear, We're asking you how you dollars per year for a good developer Pavroll will not townships We're from the land of the lion and
compete with bigger biodiesel producers. be expensive in the early stages. we're certainly interested in winning the lion's share
Cristina The big biofuel refineries largely cater Lion 2 OK, finding talent may not be a problem, but tonight for a 40% stake in our business But, in fact,
for the cities and for export, We've established a how much market research have you done? Seems to even a hundred thousand dollars would enable us to
relationship with rural farming communities who me like this would be a very risky venture, get things started in at least three other townships. So
can get their biodiesel quicker and cheaper from us
Vladimir There is, of course, an element of risk But we hope you have your cheque books open! In the
We confidently expect to move into profit within
we are sure of our market. In our sun-ey, which we meantime, you may like to try some of our delicious
five years and then maybe sell to one of the larger
can supply you with a copy of, we had a 60% positive products Thank you very much
refinenes.
response rate. There is nothing like this in Russia Presenter Thank you, The Ulundi Township
Lion 4 OK, you've clearly done your homework You at the moment and Russia is undoubtedly the best Confectionery Company Lions'
have the right connections and background, but market for this kind of service. Lion 1 Well, you certainly have an interesting business
what's to stop other small start-ups from copying
Lion 3 Is it [ust me or does anyone else have a problem proposition, but I'm wondering, how do just ten
vour idea?
with putting a half million dollars into a business women manage to produce cookies in commercial
Presenter I'm sorry lions Time's up, Thank you, that is little more than a social tool for Russian quantities?
SojaGen, millionaires? Angelina We work very hard'
Cristina and Francisco Thank you Vladimir I believe you yourselves are all worth many, Lion I Well, I'm sure vou do, and tlus idea of yours:
Presenter Lions, it's time to confer .. , many millions I thought the objective here was we don't ernploy people to bake, we bake to ernplo,
to create highly profitable new businesses or am people I mean that's all very noble, I'm sure, but we
~ 1.28 I mistaken' Our exit strategy, by the way, is to sell are not offering micro-loans here. We're looking to
Presenter Our second team of contestants tonight to one of the big US social networking sites within invest in a business.
comes from Russia They call their business Elita three years Interest has already been expressed by
Diana And you couldn't do better than to invest m
Vladimir Hello, My name is Vladimir Chernay and one large company I cannot name at this stage
ours. We don't see anything micro about our future
this is Boris Coussinsky I'll get straight to the point, Presenter OK. That's it guys~ Lions, it's time to consider
Lion 2 I'm impressed that you've invested your own
ladies and gentlemen It is common knowledge that Elita's pitch, as we go into the break, Don't go away
money as well as time and effort in this business. I
we live in the world of Web 2.0 technology, Social We'll be nght back
thmk the brandmg of your product is gomg to be
networking is particularly prevalent with websites
~ 1.29 crucial, though, to successfully export and vou'll
such as Facebook, MySpace and Linkedln In fact,
certainly need to grow fast to keep up with demand
Boris and I were instrumental in the introduction of Presenter Welcome back Before the break we saw if it all works out
Linkedln to Russia some years ago pitches from two teams of start-up business owners
N'namdi We want to grow, obviously, but we want to
But now \VC see that there is a huge demand in battling to get their hands on the half million-dollar
control that, By targeting just specialist food-stores
Russia for an elite social nch.vorking website for top lion's share of venture capital on offer tonight Now
and cafes in the States and Europe, rather than the
executives and entrepreneurs and this is the vision of it's the turn of US-South African entrepreneurs who
big supermarkets, we hope to graduallv build our
our company, Elita Boris call themselves The Ulundi Township Confectioner;
market presence
Boris Thank you, Vladimir, Ladies and gentlemen, Company.
Lion 3 What about an exit strategy? I have to tell you,
Russia is a very status-conscious society The Russian Angela Hi, I'm Diana Rider and these are my business
we generally don't want to hang on to our business
economy may be slowing, hut it remains, with partners N'narndi Jabavu and Angelina Sithebe,
interests too long!
China, India and Brazil, one of the emerging super- Together we form the management team of The
Diana V·/e don't have an exit strategy \Ve anticipate
econormcs, predicted, in fact, to be the world's sixth Ulundi Township Confectionery Company Ulundi
being able to pav back those who wish to cash in on
largest economy by 2050 The upper class in Russia Township is in the KwaZulu Natal region of South
Africa, their investment in us within three to five yc<ns and
is still reaping the benefits of the oil boom of the
earn them a healthy profit But we want to continue
1990s. You may be surprised to learn that Moscow I mvself spent five years on Wall Street launching
to run the business along ethical lines.
has the highest concentration of billionaires of anv multimillion-dollar funds before gomg to Durban to
capital city. There are over a hundred thousand Presenter That's it, lions. Time to confer
do my MBA It had always been a dream of mine to
millionaires in Russia and their number grows by
I
go to Africa, and it was while I was there that I visited
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~: l l"•l•_Nf'I'.' '.<;<Ii····- !
Lion 3 Just cmc tlnng_ l unclcr:iland I ,ih:a is <1 cli~ of companies putting tliei1 staff through d1<rn1;_1
: 1.30 countn ,\ml I don't 111can <Hid. Isn't alcohol co111 scs in <lll attempt lo trn n them into better
Presenter Our hual contcsluu!s this C\C11i11g come horn piol1ih1tcd? public spc;1ke1s. Jon I lcllcr mcds a group of B11itish
a counuv w cv c nol seen on The [,ion's Share before Ali Thal is correct .\lcohol is offici<1lh b<1nnccl iu lll(\llagcrs making their thc;_1hiccil debut
~ Libvu, The\ c<1ll themselves Libu 'l ours. I ,ih:a, although there are gmernmc11t mmes to sell B '>.:e\t time~ ou ;_ire about to make a presentation,
Andre" I lei lo, 1'111 \ndrc\\ Collins and these .u c Ill\ it through selcctecl crntlcts for tourists I lhink this L1kc a deep hrcalh cmd imClgi11c :ourself \\alking on
colleague:-.. \Ji \lmtaplu Ben \lashhar and I ,;1111i~1 ''ill h<1ppcn .~oon st<1E;e - ;_1bout to gi\e tlic performance of~ mn life'
Bintl Ialim. \\'c'ic here this L\c11illg lo persuade ~011 Lion 'l But so far. it"s illcg<1l 'I hat's lhc achicc of\\'illiam F1ecman of Cambridge
to put aside <Ill~ prcconccptinns ~ ou 11w~ lia\ c about \ssociatcs, one of a 11c\\ \\a' c of man;1gcment
Ali Yes I hc1\ c to sc.1\ for most of our clicnls, alcohol
the connlry m11 business is based in and make the h<1incrs ''ho bclic\e tint piese11ting is less abm1l
is not an issnc \Ve arc not catering to thc :oung
perhaps sounclcxl in', c:.l111c11l 011 offct tollight Pcm crPoint c.md more about <Jc tin~ the part
bc;_ich- cmd ba1-lme1 -\ll(l there arc plcnt: of
A.Ji Tlw11ks, \ndrc\\. Libca. ladies ;_111c\ gentlemen. is clcliuous non-alcoholic c1lte111ati,es So it is not a \l P1ospern, a compan: \\ tth a similar ;1ims, Tina
at a e1oss1o;_l(]s ofhistrny, continents and ancient g1eat clisacha11L1gc Packer and ~lichacl I ,;_1111e kl\c lakcn the idea one
empires ll i.'I home lo the l\lcclitc1ta11can's richest step frn thn and put Shakespeare on tlic programme
Lion ) It\\ ould he for me On holida: and no gin omd
sloi c of C'icck aur] Ro11u11 cities and eleven hundred \fler all,\\ ho hcttcr to k<lch managers hem to .~peak
tonic?
miles of undcv eloped beach front. Cosmopolit.m efkcti\ ch cmd relate lo an onlClience th all classic::l!h
Presenter \\'ell, \\ c"i e 011t of tnnc Thank\ Oll to all ou1
Tripoli has man', attractions. 'Ihis . car l .ib~ ;1 expects l1c1incd <lC trns? \Vhcthcr ~011'rc a platform spc;1kcr
contestants for four excellent pitches :Nm\, lions,
one million tourists, fo111 times more than [our v carx at tlic anmwl confe1cnce, a salesperson pitching lo
it's up to :011 \\'ho, if <m:one. gels the lion's share
c1go a client 01 just ehaiilllg ~our \\eek\~ sl;_1ff meeting,
tonight? \\'e'll lakc c111othe1 h1cak llO\\ and be right
Lamia Since the US t cstorcc] rhplomatic relations cictors ha' c powcrft1l com1111111icatioi1 tcchniq11es
hack \\itli lhc lions' \crdict ..
\\ irh l,ib~a in 2006, « c ha. c been \\ clcomillg both :mi can lce1in from. Prmpcro i.~ ecrt;1inl~ in demand,
holicla~ makers uuc] cuh cprcncurs to our beautiful rcgula1 l~ ru1111i11g cmnscs ;it Columbia Busi11cs:i
countrv: IL1h has built scvcru] hotel chains alrcadv. 04 VOICE AND VISUALS School. I-Lm;ml <1ncl \11'1~
France's Cluh\lcd is also pla1111ing to set up heic: So\\ licit is it that 11ukLs someone <l brilliant speaker?
But in glob;i\ Icnnx, Libca is still \irgin tcirilorv and : 1.31 Richard O]i, icr, Ro~al Slwkcspca1c Comp<lll~
the opportunities for ccnh investors arc exceptional diicctc>r, crL<1ti\e 111anagcmcnt co11s11lt;111t and son of
Ilcllo, this is Cheng Jing from ::\'anogcn 'L1i\\a11 I
Libu 'l(n11s offers all autl;entic Libv.m experience acting legend Si1· Ln11ellcc O]i,·icr, thinks it's 'sclf-
just \\<llltLd to !cl ~·ou knm\ that ~·our p1escntJtion this
to tourists in search of quiet, culture and a sunn~ hclicf According to Oli\ ier, '\Inch oflcadcrship
mcm1i11g was a ti cmendous success '' ilh C\ en one he1 c.
climate is aclinr; Not foking it, hut taking 011 a role.
\\'hat a brilliant idea lo do the\\ hole thing ii~ s11ch a
Andrew I'm ohiousl~ Btifish and I bringh\e!ll\ ~car:i' l\1rado\1call:, 1hc acting nwkcs it real'
casual, lcm-hudgct ;_mcl altcrnati\ c wa~ ! Ver: clc\ c1. The
c-cpcricncr in the luropcan lrntels nut] tourism board cerlainl~ r;ot the message But\\ hat do thc trainees think? \Ve questiollccl a few
business lo the v cn hu c B11t to succeed in l,ib\cl al \\ ho'd taken ;_1 course in acti11g like kaders~
I hope\\ c clicln 't seem 1mapprcciali\ c as an auclience
this poinl in its de. clopmcnt, it is csscuua] to ha\ e Quite the conti;m' '{ou must urnkrstand tho1t nol all C I thought Ill~' boss had gone mad at fiist I mean,
local contacts \li auc] Luuia huv c been running ;_1 Olli \ice-pi Lsidcnts ha' c the benefit of 111\ I-L:m1ard Shalcspe;_irc? No \\<l~ ! But, !11 foct, it's bccn rcall:
highh successful domestic holid.rv finu fOJ nu11~ cduc-;1tion ,\ncl some of tlic1n don"t speak ]•'.n~lish \Cl~ inspiring .\I](];_\ lol or
fun I
~cc11s, 'l1lic\ ha\e all llic ii~ht con;1cctio11s with \\cll But lhc: real!: liked ~our calm, ljllld approach D f1·;111kl:·, I \\'as terrified .\le, acting on st;1ge? I don't
hotels, co;1cli ope1ators, museums and sites of So plcasc pass 011 111: congr<lllllation:i to: om C'\ccllcnt think so But I\ c krn1ccl "lot of stuff I nc1'Cf ~ot on
.n clutccltu al and archacologic.rl interest Because of p1cscntcl' those horing prc.~cnlation cm11'sLs_
the ma11~· reguL1t01: agLncies i11 Lib: c1 and obstnclcx E \Vcll, the actors h<nc been flln lo \\ork \\Ith \\'e\c
Oh, b, lhc \\<l~, the joke ;1hout Beijing \\<IS grcall~
..
to forcign-0\\ nciship '' ilhin the conuh v. their had a lol of laughs rm not so sure hem useful il all
en jo: eel - C\ en in transbtion1 So, sec: nu at thc nc\.t
contributiou lo the business is cruci;_1],'
stratcg: mccling Coodhye nm\ is - : m1 krnm, ill a business c ontc"X\. But, he:, it got
\\'c'rc looki11g for five luurclrcc] thousand dollar:i for us out of lhc office fo1 ;1 coupk of da~ s, so I'm not
a))~; slake in our business, L11~cl: to uun kct 011r - 1.32 eo111pbii1i11g
loms tlnougliout Europe and North .uncrica. The
There's a\\ hole ma1 kct in Eastcl'n l•:11ropc just there F \\'ell. thio ic;dh isu't un lhmg al <11l I lllClll, public
business itself is al read: 1 unni11~ successfnll:, hut spe<1kii1g j11st f1igl1tcns the life out of 111c, \\ 1thrn1t
fo1· the taking.
011 ;_1 smallci scale than \\C plnu 'I he market scdor
b Quite f1cmkl~, the 1•cstilts \\e-\c hcL11 gelling arc getting up ;111d acting in front of an at1dicncc
\\ C target is the 0\ er- ~ ),~, pi ofcssio11als, inter cstc-d in
ahsol11leh mcrcd1blc Frallkl:'. it \\as hell Nc\•c1 again!
cul hu c auc] 11c\\ cxpcricuccs. and \\C don't intend
c :'\m\, I'm su1c I don't need to tell >OU just ho\\ G Bcst course l\e e\cr done - b: fo1 Just totall:
to change thut \uthclltici~ is the hallmark of our
crucial th is is. brilliant I nc\ci icaliscd tlic true power of the \Oiec
service In this \\<ly, w c diffcicntiutc out selves from
and the confidence it gi' cs~ ou \\hen : 011 C<lll rnc.1kc
the majoritv of lour opcmtors in places like Crcccc d 7\ct profits cue 11p ninct:-se\ en per eent - ~cs, 11illct}-
it \HHk foi \Oil~ I'd dcfoutch rccommcnd this ki11cl of
and 'lurkcv. It\ \er: difficult to find higli-qualit~ Sl'\ en pe1 cenL
trairnng
tcnu opculors in Europe these cla~ x, Ce11e1<1ll~, ~ 011 c \\'ould you bc\ie\C th;_1\ so fo1 \\e\e not hcLn able lo
h<l\ c lo go lo the Cm ihhc.m OJ other exotic island B So, there\\ c kn cit Time lo .)hut elem n: onr laptop.
sell a single m1it?
p.uadiscs to gel that kind of SCI\ ice. \Ve intend to brush up~ Olli Shakcspcarc c.rnd learn hm\ to\\ 0\\ ;111
~liss this deadline and ne'll lmc the biggest client
chan~c that in ;_1 c•mmtr~ most people ha, s: never audience" 11h llic profcs:iionals.
this con1pall~ 's c\ er had
tl10ught of \'isiting until 110\\ _
Ali Thank vou \Cl\ nn tch \\"c ut c reach lo lake - • 1.33 05 PROBLEMS ON THE
quc-uons
n 'l h.,re'• "" bnle 111I1tk~1 I 111 1·"1,;l~n1 hueop<' I ii r>I PHONE
Presenter Thank \OU, Libu 'fours 0\1c1 to v ou, lions ~ foi the taking
Lion I \\'11\ l .ibu? h ~ pwl)t• I 1 m lip 11!1 wl~ ''"'~"..l'c' U'.ll! I-~ I :, i 03
Ali Libu is the unc icn r 1w111c of I ,ib~ a. Clnsxica] cul lure ni1H~l~·- I seYLn I per ccnl.
is a kc\ feature of our tours
B l lcllo'
Lion I I sec I must confess I hadn't tliot1ght of L1b~a
: 1,34 A Dan?
mvscll as a holichn desti11;_1lion \\'hat makes \'mi so 11 '[; l1crc'> ;11• linlewmkt I.in l.n<lcm J-.1m1r"' I i11•I B Spc<1kio~.
st;1c there's a 11urkct? !1Jm:i: for the~ A It's Ccorgc Ccorgc Chattei"ton
La1nia \\'ell, a.~ \\ c said, the1e 's ;1 lot of i11tLrcst in Lil)\ a b Q11itc fnt1ikl_11.· I the results nc\e hcell vcttillg I ;He B .\h, Ceorgc ~· I lcJ\\ a1T ~ol!?
i ight nm\ .-\ftc1 ~·cars of isolation f1 om the \\"esL "e 11b<nl11td1l~.ill.!t- A Couldn't be helter, mate, couldn't be heller!
rcall: arc almost <l llC\\' cm111t1~·, 011c npc to discm er. :'\o\\, I'm sure I I don't need to tell >m1 I just heJ\\ SomL<llll' \i;_1ppcncd lo mc11tio11 the~ 'cl humped into
Lion 2 l-Im. I'm \\on icd about all the 1 egu1'1tiolls ~ m1 errn·ui[ I this io you the olhe1 chi~ So I just tlio11ghl I'd gi\c ~ou a
mentioned I knm\ : 011 ha\ can cxisli11r; bu:iincss, d ''·L p1'olLl> I ul'e U[> 11ii•~l"''l'"'' I ilet llll!. I- u:& I call Sec heJ\\ : oll'rc do\11g
lrnl \\hat if the polilieal sit11<1tioll slio11ld clwngc !ll rnnct:-1 sc\·cn I per cc11t, B Oh, 1 ighL ... : cs·-· er, Ccor~c ·-~
Liha? Seems lo me there's a co11sidc1ahlc 1isk.
e \Vould \'OJI bdi('\'C I that ill for I" c\•e llill hecn ahlc A So hem's it going, matc? Just been promoted, so I
,\ndre" I.ih~a ls politic;i\l~ stahlc '!'he rcg11lator} to sell [ .01 single ll!li.t? iiL<H,
harrier.~ arc a norn1c1l prccrntion \\ he11 a c01111ti~·
'diss I this I J.kiuiJ.i:m: I <1nd 11 c'll losc the biggest B l<:i. \cs. that's right
fi11cls itself s11d(klll~ dr<i\\ ing thousands of
t.l.rn.!!l I this eompan>·'s c\·cr had A Clad lo sec lhc: \ c fi1wll~ started appreciating~ m1
enlrcpre11el111s cc.1~er lo set up in husi11L·ss Yo11 find
B Fr, ~cs, thanks So, Ccnrf;C, \\ lwt can I do for :·ou?
tlic sa111c 1hing i11 Central c.111d ]''.cistern F111'ope \Ve : 135
arc ;_1 bi-1wtional 01f.!:<lllis;1tio11 ;1ncl respected in thc A Bit m01c mo11c: too, I imagine,
A \\"clcomc hack to Cir~ Bmmcs::.. 'fo be or not to
illcl11stn I drni't thi11k llic 1isk i:i as comidc1ablc c1s B Hm' Oh." bit. "'"h Well. Ccorgc. I expect rnu're
he? 'I hat is lhc qucslion for an increasing rn1mber
I
\OU bcliC\C, calling about that l"o1ccl
LISTENING SCRIPn
www.frenglish.ru
A And how's that lovely wife of yours' B I'll be expecting a total refund and compensation if couple of posters with nothing to attach them to! It's
B Suzanne' Oh, she's fine, this can't be fixed! a complete disaster!
A Splendid, splendid And the kids? C Unfortunately, we're not authorised to give refunds, B You haven't got a stand? Well, how did that happen?
B They're fine too. Look, George, I am rather busy but what I can do is send you a brand-new computer. A Don't ask. Look, it's not just that I've just tried
right now. I've just got back from holiday, actually, How would that be? out three of the promotional CDs and two were
and you know what it's like. Was there something B This is supposed to be a brand-new computer You defective - wouldn't play at all. I don't know how
you wanted to talk to me about? think I want another one of these, after what the last manv more are like that.
A Of course, how silly of me! You've jnst been on that one did to my files? B Maybe it's the CD player you're using.
safari you were planning last time we spoke, haven't C Well, let's see what our engineer can do. Hopefully, A Wouldn't surprise me I had to borrow it from
you? it's not quite as bad as you think Now, I've got your another exhibitor
B Yes, and what with the new job and everything, address here in your customer file, Oxford OX2 6BJ,
B Well, what happened to our CD player?
there's a bit of catching up right?
A I'll give you three guesses.
A Kenya, wasn't it? B Yeah, right.
B Damn carriers. That's the last time we use them! I'll
B What' C And it's Mr Harris, isn't it?
play hell with them when I speak to them.
A The holiday - Kenya. B Yes.
A Yes, well, never mind that now, You've got to do
B Yes Listen. George .. C Right, Mr Harris. We'll have an engineer with yon something, Graham. I'm working flat out on my own
A You know, I've always wanted to go to Kenya this afternoon And I'll ask him to bring a new hard here.
disk with him. Is that all OK for you?
B Where's Lies!?
B Er, well, I suppose ...
B Well, now, George, I mustn't keep you A She's come down with some sort of virus. I left her at
C Good, Glad to be of assistance. Is there anything else the hotel.
A What's that?
I can help you with?
B I'll let you get on I'm sure you've got things to do, B This just gets worse, doesn't it?
B Hm? Oh, no, no.
busy guy like yon It's been great talking to you, A Wait till you hear about the brochures
though. C Well, best of luck this afternoon. I hope we can solve
B What's gone wrong with the brochures?
the problem for you
A Yeah, likewise A The English ones arc OK. The others are all in
B Well, thanks. Erm, goodbye.
B We must get together soon. Portuguese.
C Goodbye, Mr Harris
A Yeah, yeah As a matter of fact, I'm going to be in B Portuguese! Oh, no ,
London for a few days next month. ~2.05 A What?
B Oh,god B That may be because I forgot to phone Tony. You
B Hello?
A Sorry? remember we were going to attend the Lisbon Trade
A
B I said 'Oh, good ' Perhaps we can meet up for a beer Fair originally.
B Yeah, speaking Is that you, Piotr? Aren't you
A Yeah, that'd be great A And you didn't tell Tony about the change of plan'
supposed to be at the Trade Fair in Krakow'
B But, crrn, I'll have to let you go now, George. B It completely slipped my mind Oh, I'm really sorry,
A
Someone's just this minute stepped into the office. Piotr
B What'
A Oh, right, I see A Graham, you've got to get me out of this mess-
A
B And it looks like I've got an international call [ust B Well, we're snowed under at the moment trying to
B Yon haven't got a stand? Well, how did that happen? get things ready for the Midas launch, but, look,
come in on the other line as well, Yes
A don't worry. I'll sort something out. Can I call you
A No worries. I'll call you back in half an hour, then. I
B Maybe it's the CD player you're using back in an hour?
haven't told yon my good news yet. Wait till you hear
it! A A OK, I'll be waiting to hear from you.
B What? Er, no Erm, George' George? B Well, what happened to our CD player?
~2.07
A
~2.04 A Hello?
B Damn carriers. That's the last time we use them' I'll
A Hello Thank you for calling the iDeals customer play hell with them when I speak to them B Hello, Piotr
service line. All our customer service advisers are A A Graham! You said an hour.
busy right now Please hold and your enquiry will B Where's Lies!? B Sorry I got held up.
be dealt with shortly. , This is the iDeals customer A What's happening, then?
A
service line. Thank you for holding All our customer
B This just gets worse, doesn't it' B Right I've been on to the carriers and they're
service advisers are busy right now Please hold and
A sending a new stand out on the next plane. You
your enquiry will be dealt with shortly .•.
should have that by tomorrow morning
B Oh,come on, come on! B What's gone wrong with the brochures'
A Well, at least that's something.
C Good morning Lisa speaking How can I help you' A
B Can you get hold of the organisers and tell them
B Oh, hello. At last' I was just about to ring off B Portuguese' Oh, no ...
we'll set up tomorrow at 7?
C I am sorry abont that The waiting system is a bit A
A Yeah, sure. I don't suppose you remembered to put
frustrating, isn't it? It's the only way we can offer our B That may be because I forgot to phone Tony. You another CD player in with the stand?
24-hour service, you see. remember we were going to attend the Lisbon Trade
B I've sent two - just in case.
B Yeah, yeah Look, it's about the computer I bought Fair originally.
A Oh, right Good Thanks,
off you two weeks ago ... A
B And do you happen to have a phone number for
C Yes? What seems to be the problem? B It completely slipped my mind Oh, I'm really sorry,
the promotions people? Because if those CDs are
B Well, I was transferring my files to it from my zip Piotr
defective, I'll get them to send more by courier.
drive and it's lost the lot Everything! A
A I've got it somewhere. Graham, is there any chance
C OK, now don't worry_ I'm sure we can sort B Well, we're snowed under at the moment trying to of sending someone else out here? Kim, for instance
something out. First, can you give me a few details? get things ready for the Midas launch, but, look,
B Piotr, you know how short-staffed we arc here right
The computer has lost all your data, yon say? don't worry. I'll sort something out Can I call you
now
B Yes. But, you don't understand. It's wiped everything back in an hour?
A What's this exhibition costing us, Graham? $18,000?
off the zip drive as well' My whole life, my whole life A
B You're right. I'll check with Liz and see if she can
was in those files
~2.06 spare Kim for a few days
C Oh, my goodness! Are you sure' Sounds like the
A Thanks It's murder here
problem's with your zip drive B Hello?
B Well, I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise
B Of course I'm sure! And there's nothing wrong with A Graham?
anything
my zip drive. I've had it years' B Yeah, speaking Is that you, Piotr? Aren't you
A Hm And would you mind getting some brochures to
C OK I can understand how upset you must be Now, supposed to be at the Trade Fair in Krakow?
me in Polish, seeing as I'm in Poland?
I don't think we can deal with this on the phone, A I am at the Trade Fair in Krakow, Graham I'm just
so I'm going to send a service engineer to see if B Yes, we're having a few problems with that - seem to
about the only thing that arrived here in one piece'
they can retrieve your data Can you give me your have run out Is there any point in sending the ones
B What?
product reference number? we've got in Russian?
A Well, the stand got badly damaged in transit, so I've
B Hm? Er, yes. It's. here it is ... it's SF! 1-003 A No, Graham, not a great idea. Send the German
basically just got a table here, a few chairs and a
I
ones, if that's all we've got But are you absolutclv
C Thank vou
LISTENING SCRIPTS
www.frenglish.ru
~ LIS fENING SCR1P-TS
~
please? Il is pre!~ imp.n taut ,A. OK, thanks for coming, e\ er~ body. Erm, has A OK, so just to summarise what we've said so far~
an: bod:· seen Lance, b~ the '' 01:? He ''as s11pposed Basicalh1• we like the timcoh ou1 lifc idea At least
B I know. l know \Vot1ld il help if \\C ~ot a local Polish
to be here most of 11s do \Ve 're a\\ ;11 e of tl1c risks in\ ol\ eel in
interpreter in? I kuov, :m1 speak Polish. but it miq;ht
B Oh, s·cah, he phoned lo s<1s his Right in from a maj01' im estmcnt in an c-busillcss, hut\\ c think
help :ou out a bil
Chic1go had a h\o-lwur deb: Ile st1icl to go ahead the concept has ~rcat potential \.Ve need to make
A Well. I wouldn't kn c much lime lo ln icf them
aml start \\'ithout him another appoilltmcnl \\ ith these people because \\C
011 the product, but vcah, an: thing's better than
hm c some doubts c1bout their lo,2;istics~ Pieter, can I
nothillg A Oh, l \\anted liis input on this one OK, ne,cr mind,
leave that one with vou7
let's get started, then. shall\\ e? Erm, so, ;1s I said ill
B OK, I'll ~ct 011 to that right <ma:- Leave it lo me,
m: e-mail. the purpose of this meeting is to re\ ie\\ C Smc I'll get right on lo iL
A l did k<l' cit lo~ ou auc] look v, hat happened!
List week's t~1lks with the people from tinH.'of: ottr!ife A \Ve'rc also a little eollccrncd about the amount of
B Yeah. "ell You're doin~ c1 great joh Piotr. I owe :mi com and, secondh, to dcc1<lc 1f \\c're inte1•cstecl in insural\Cc a bllsincss like this \\(llllcl need Tmi;-1, can
one' taking thiHgs further~ Pieter is going to fill us in on ~ou get back to me on that?
the background Pieter' B ~o p10hlem, Ross.
06 LEADING MEETINGS C Ye<1h, thanks, Ross. \\'ell, no11, timcofsourlifc is A Crcat 1 think that's about as far as we can go at
a rcc.111~ C'\citing lmsirn_.ss proposition. l·fas1call~. this stage Thanks, cscrs hods. I'm afraid \\e'll hasc
~1 i.03 the idea is thal ordinar: pcopk can hu>' a kind of to stop it there
limeslwrc ill \Jrio11s lt1xur: goods that the: Colllcl E Hi, g11~1s, Son: I'm Liter 'Ernia tolcl ~Clll the stor:,
A Coming 11p on CB:\ Bmincss: un interview '' ith
l!C\Cr afford to bu: outright \\'hat happens is :ou right? Sa:. did I miss <lll)thing here?
media king and hcnc] of NL\\ s Corporal ion Rupert
hu: points olllinc cJt the timeo~ ourlifc \\ cbsite and
Xlurdoch. stock market report and Kat: Alexander
: OLl can use these poi Hts to buy~ like, ;1 Ferrari for
'' ith the \\'cek's lmsines:-. 11e\\S round-up. But first,
a cb>, a Role:-.; O:ster for <1 \\Cekellcl or a Jc;:l11-Paul 07 GAMES WITHOUT
:-.uffering from hoarclmoru blues? Tired of laking
C;_rnltic1 origiHal for an e'cning! 7\cat, lillh? I jusl FRONTIERS
minutes al meetings that take horns? Tess Licbov, rtz
Im e this proposal ~·
ma; ha\ c the solution _,.
D F1, so1r: to intcrrnpt. bul is this goillg to lake long, ~ 2.12
B ..\ccording to diplomat and economist JK Calbrailh.
Pieter? 0111: I hmc an appointment c1t clcH-'Il arnl \\C
':dcctillgs arc indispensable w hcn , ou don't o aut Speaker 1 Like mall) Spamarcls, I am a big fan of
h;-nc all read the summcn: on this comp<m} alread~
lo do am'lhiug,' Therefore, logiealls, if vou reall, do footk1\l And. for me, CHJL of the bc::.t lessons I hmc
want to do sorncthrng, it's the meetings :oil must
A Jack. coulcl Pietc1 jnst finish "hat he \\i:IS sa:ing?
learned From football is the\ icto1: of the Spanish
\Ve'rc looking at h\ ent: million dollars in seed
dispcuse « ith But c;111 ~Oil dispcnsc v ith meetings team i11 the Euro2008 championship for us, this
capital he1'e. I drni't "ant us rushing ill to an~ thing
altogether? And 11 hat 11 ould take their place' At \\OlS <l great mome11t, because SpaiH liad not \\Oil c1
But perhaps we could speed things up a little.
SC\ era] woll-kno-v 11 coinpauics the: think lhcv'v e major competition sillce 1964 and people ask licm
Piete1 \Ve arc short of time ancl h\ the end of this
found the ansv, er ccrn it he that a coL111tn '' ith so lll<lll\ fomous and
meeting I'd like some kmd of decision on this.
\thigh-profile llK achccrlising <1grnes St Luke's, suceessful teams - as I3arcclona cmd Real .\'laclricL for
meetings arc xinrplv conxiclcrcd 'a ceremonial
and rude interruption to people's \\orking da: ·•
:i :.cm C'\ample- ho\\ c;rn it he thcJt Spain llC\er \\in an:
Lurope<Jn or \\'orld Cups? ,\ml tlic reason, I think.
So the: 'vc introduced meetings-on-the-move
Extract 2 is because Sp;1in is\ er~ regional The Cashlians,
\n~ member of staff can hold a meeting an: lime. C So, as \CHI can sec, the <1ch<111ce publicih alone is the C1t<1Lms, the Caliei<rns, the Ancla\11si<1ns,the
am where - i11 the elevator, in a local c;,1fe 01 just attracting half a n11\lion 'isitors to the tirncof:.ourlifc Basque:-. - we circ all \•er~ different people \Ve have
sitting cross-legged Oil the Aoor Any\\ here, that is, "ehsite C\er: chi;. Olli' CJ\\ ll \\a\ sand there is some conAict sometimes
hilt i11 a boardroom! A Sorry, Pieter, hut\\ e seem to he gettmg ::.iclc-lrackecl \Ve are not a team~ So after the clisaskr at the Erno
\t Iutcmct com pan~ another.com the:\ e gone here This is all \Cf} interesting. but can \\C go back Cup in 2004. Spain has a llC\\ coach. ,\r;1gonCs
one step further b: building a 'park area' right in to what we were discussing earlier? Nm\', .-\r;1gonCs Jud some tough decisions Some
the miclclle of the illlilclmg. Slaff can go sit on the C Oh, OK Su1e. plt1: crs, he will not gi,•e a place to them, bec1use
p.n k bench amongst the Ac)\\cJs or even pL.1: on the A Per hap:-.\\ e can come hack to this later. Tell us ahollt the~ C<lll pLi~, hilt the: ha\ c no team spiriL There
swillgs while the:· hold meetings! The: used to have \\ere big c_i1gumcnts, b11t, you kncm, AragonCs 1s a
their logistics
real g1ass too, hut \\atcrillg it became a problem, master of conflict resolutioll .-\11d, most important
D Can l just say something here?
of all, he gi\cs tlic pb~ ers conficlcllcc the: can\\ in~
. ..\t media slratcg:· com pan~, Michachdcs & Bcduash A Hold on a minute, hick - : ou'll get your cluncc ill a ,\II(] al reach b1 the World Cup of 21106 mu C<lll sec
thcv'vc come llJ) with a different solution. All lllOlllCllt Spc1i11 pla:s much better. ArC1gonCs h<IS imcntcd a
cmplov ccs, incspc. ti' c of stutus. w ork around
D ll's just th<1t I thought 11c'd agreed 11e 11crc1i't 11c\\ \\Orel - 'tecmmcss' He sa\s he \\ants 'tcamness'
OllC enormous central table. i\ lccti11gs become
imcshng in an: mo1e clot,coms ror him, it doesn't mc.1ttcr if ~0\1 pla~ in the match
unnecess;u: wlicu e\ er: one in the com pan~ is sitting
just across the table horn you the whole time. 'I he B 7\o, Jack That's what :·ou \\cmtecl. But nobocl: or :011 :-.it on the reserve bench. if :·oll score a goal
actualls agreed or :m1 don't score 01 gm1L 'You arc part of the team.
"orking d;1:• is ;1 emu.tun! meeting!
D 'Lmia, "e\ c been through this~ Before Fm 0211118, he look the uew team to meet the
\t the Xerox Corporation a 11101•c elem u-to-carth
te~1m of 196-t, "ho wc1 e Enropcan champions. And
approach has proved successful. ,\ll staff from juuicn B \\/ait a minute, \Vho \\as it that said,..?
lhis. it can, n, boost morale frn the ~Ollng pb:ers.
management upwards, arc trained in chairing skills A OK, OKI Let's all just calm clown, shall \\e' \Ve'1c
The; hclic,•c now thq arc The Reel Pun'. La Fllria
and get an equal oppoituuitv to use them. This here to talk ahollt this propos;1l \\C h::l\e on the table
Roj;1, we sc.l\, And, a;-. you kmm, ill the hnal \\e heat
breaks up hicrarchics in thc v, orkplacc, crc;1ling 'Emia, what's your position on this?
German~ one-nil!
democratised meetings,\\ here C\er~one can practise B Well, I agree with Pieter that it's a great business
their leadership skills plan. Like} nu, I'm a little concerned ahcrnt the ~;::,13
Final]:, at Federal l-xpi csv, thL~ 'vc been logistics, though, The procurement and deli\ er)
Speaker 2 l•'.rm, \\Cll, for me, the most important
cvpcrimcnhng \\ ith tcchnolog, Using spLciall~ s\stem fo1 a hllsiness like this ''m1lcl he c;dremeh
p<1rt of huikling an cffccti\'e kam is nwximising
designed software. peop!c sit around a large complex Ancl the insurance costs could he
the potential of its members To get the best Ollt of
U-shapcd table at « orkslations connected mer a prohihiti\e,
people ~Oil ob\ lotI::.l: \\<111t tl1L111 doing \\ho1t the~ arL
local urca uctwrn k . .\ lcctings stick ::.trictl~ lo the C :\m\, hold Olla seeoHd! Thi::. ls Clll cm creel Ill the best at- ,\nd \Oil ccrtainh don't \\<lilt them all to be
agenda, arc highl: focused and more or !c.~s silent proposal. 'Ernia \.\'hat are :ou saying? I Lhought ~ou good at the same thing! :!'he \Hiler Stephen Cm c~
Items illstc.rntl: ;1ppcar on the participauts' screens \\ere\\ ith me Oll this one sa~s 'strength lies in cliffcrcncc~. not ill s1milarilles',
and people simpl, kc:· in their view s rather than A Pieter, I think\\ hcit 'Emia is tr~ ing to sa~ is she likes \\ liich 1s quite a r;oocl \\~d} of putting it. There Jrc
\Oi(_T them. The software allows \OU to attach further the idea hul lhc figures don't quite acid up m<lll} managcrncnl models fo1 this_ The most \\Cll-
comments and to sec graphicall: ho« : our positioll
B Exaeth k1HJ\\ n is p10hahly Bclhin's in his-hook 'Jeum Roles at
differs from the consensus, Tlie onh problem is the
A OK, mavbe we should take a short break at this \\'(>rt Bclhin di,•ides team members into Hille~ pcs,
price - S~),()()() for the fully functional system!
point, g;ab a coffee and meet hack here in fifteen but. hasicall~ thLre arc just three roles the: need to
minutes take on: action-01iclltcd roles, lhc people\\ ho get
the joh clone; people-oriented 1 oles. the people\\ ho
facil1late commullication bet\\ ccn the members;
ancl \\ liat he calls cerch1 al roles, the people \\ho
do lhc crc<Jti\'C or ana\\'tical \\CHk that makes it all
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possible Now, of course, you never have nine people money_ What's in short supply is great teams' And B jct lag' If vou ask me, they hated the proposal The
of different types in the team Some people mav play he should know, He's been involved in the start-up of Japanese don't like coming right out and saying they
two or three roles And there's usually some overlap companies like Genentech, Compaq and Netscape disagree, but did you see Akio's face when we didn't
But, at least in theory, you can make sure yon have If you think about il, it makes sense. Human beings have that data he wanted?
a balanced team, This doesn't mean that you will are natural team players It was our ability to develop A Hm And why do they keep breaking off to have
always have the right interpersonal relationships for complex social relationships that brought us out the a conversation in Japanese? I mean, what's all the
success, however After all, a team is a social group caves in the first place I It's never been survival of the secrecy? We're supposed to be on the same team, for
And there can be in-fighting and conflict - especially fittest so much as survival of the most collaborative. god's sakes'
if you have too many 'hotshots' competing with each The buzzword nowadays is intellectual capital - B Oh, yeah. I hate when that happens Do you think
other. Then it's like a Hollywood movie with too the combined know-how we carrv around in our there's something they're not telling us'
many superstars in it And you don't want that As heads. The Harvard professor Howard Gardner says
A 1 don't know. It's been like this ever since we got the
the film director Lindsay Anderson says, 'Eighty per it best: 'my intelligence does not stop at my skin'
green light Remember the kick-off meeting'
cent of a successful production is in the casting' He's right It also includes all the databases, friends
and colleagues within your network But, for me, B Will I ever forget' Well, 1 guess it's just as well we
~2.14 emotional intelligence shouldn't rust be directed keep coming up with the ideas because they sure as
within the team, It's also got to be used outside the heck aren't going to!
Speaker 3 For me, a source of inspiration when
team, because you really need people who can act as The Japanese
working with teams has always been the Apollo 13
rescue mission. Perhaps you remember the movie ambassadors for the project, get buy-in from senior A These meetings are so exhausting! Did you
with 'Ibm Hanks? This was the third manned management and, ultimately, sell the idea to the understand a word of that'
mission by NASA to land on the moon, but a world B Well, it's a little difficult when everybody speaks at
technical malfunction caused the lunar landing to the same time! Kenichi, your English is best What
be aborted. The command module was damaged
~2.17 were they saying'
and so the crew had to try to return to Earth in the Speaker 6 Recently, I have been involved in a joint C I'm not sure - something about missing 'the first
tiny lunar module, which was really not built for venture with an American firm And, I have to say, milestone' of the project
the tourney Two famous catchphrases people may it wasn't so easy at the start There were a lot of A First milestone?
know are 'Houston, we have a problem' and 'Failure cultural barriers to overcome Erm, we just didn't
G The first stage, you know?
is not an option' And it is this can-do attitude that I seem to have the same idea about what a team is and
A Ahl Yes Milestone Whv do Americans use all this
especially admire I think it is one thing we Germans how it should work. I had heard, of course, that the
and the Americans perhaps have in common Gene Americans were a rather more individualistic culture slang'
Kranz was the flight controller for the Apollo 13 than the French, but at times this didn't seem to be C Well, it's not exactly slang, Akio Actually, it's quite a
mission and he has spoken about how important it the case Then a colleague lent me a book about common term ,
is in a successful team to have the right chemistry cultural metaphors by a guy called Martin Gannon A Simple English would be much better And I need
as well as technical expertise This was not easy and everything fell into place, Gannon has the idea to see the data before I can make up my mind. We
because the teams he was leading were full of the that you can learn a lot about different cultures don't come all the way from japan to listen to some
best young engineering graduates, ace test pilots - a by utilising a central metaphor for them For the crazy new idea, which was not on the agenda I'm
lot of ego problems' In the case of Apollo 1 3, they British, for example, it is the house - you know, not surprised Americans always want an immediate
put their differences to one side and came up with strong foundations, a little rigid. For the Germans it decision. That's so we don't notice that they don't
the brilliant idea of getting the lunar module to is the symphony- lots of co-ordination, discipline have all the figures yet!
rotate, rather like a barbecue, something it was not For the French, predictably, the metaphor is wine! B And why all the shouting and arguing' It sounded
designed to ch This equalised its exposure to the sun Tradition, perfectionism, good taste You get the like they couldn't agree on their own proposal. Aren't
and stopped it burning up But the NASA team also idea, Not very scientific, perhaps, but an intriguing we all supposed to be working on the same team?
had a 500-step checklist of procedures and protocols, concept Anyway, it seems that for Americans A Yes, they seemed like nice guys when we went out
which it stuck to under pressure and it worked I the metaphor Gannon uses is football, American last time, you remember?
think this shows that, whilst Acxibility is vital at football - a game, I have to say, about which I knew
B Ah, vesl
certain stages in a project, so is having faith in your absolutely nothing six months ago. Now, if I have
A But now they become really aggressive about this
plans and the courage to do things by the book. to describe the American football, for me it is short
proposal they have, which I still don't understand!
periods of extreme violence between individuals
~2.15 followed by some sort of committee meeting with C Akio, that's not aggression, That's just how
all the players standing in a circle deciding what to Americans show enthusiasm!
Speaker 4 I used to work for Lockheed-Martin in
Maryland in what is now called ADP, Advanced do next A strange sport! But that is the American A Enthusiasm? I will never understand this country!
Development Programs It wasn't called that when I attitude to teamwork precisely, They love their
meetings For them business is a sport, so it real1y is ~2.19
worked there It was affectionately known as Skunk
Works, a term now in gcnernl use in a lot of hi-tech a team effort - but a team of individuals, all trying to Meeting 2
industries, and we were responsible for many state- out-perform their team-mates if they get the chance The British
of-the-art military aircraft designs, which were years They will commit to a group, sure, but only for a
A Well, I must say, that didn't quite go as I expected!
ahead of their time In fact, some of the designs fixed period of time And within the team you have
B No, I don't know what happened there I thought we
we worked on twenty or thirty years ago are still in much competition Quite fascinating!
were just about ready to execute and then, suddenly,
production today. The thing about the Skunk Works
~2.18 it's like we're right back to square one
teams was that we were given a lot of autonomy And
A I mean, if they had all these objections, why didn't
we didn't have to deal with the usual bureaucracy, Meeting I
they raise them before?
Most of the projects we worked on were highly The Americans
confidential, so, at the end of the day, I guess we B Well, exactly And what about Tabor' I thought he
A Is it me or was that just the worst meeting we've ever
were still accountable to senior management. was going to have a heart attack! I've never seen him
had'
But if you want innovative solutions to complex so upset Who'd have thought he felt so strongly
B Nope, that was the worst all right Complete waste about manufacturing the components in Hungary'
problems, there comes a point where you've got to
of time! You know, I don't know why we have these
let the creative guys just get on with it I think that's A Well, I did my best to calm him down You know,
joint planning sessions if the Osaka team are just
key with high-technology teams - management tried to make a bit of a joke of the whole thing
going to sit there looking bored Were they out on
shouldn't interfere. The engineers need to be given B Yes, 1 thought you handled it very well Fortunatclv,
the town last night or something?
some latitude to try out new things or you'll simply I think he could see the funny side. I mean it was his
kill off their creativity That's the secret of leading A I don't think so. Why'
idea to outsource to Taiwan in the first place.
teams - knowing when to let go. B Looked like two of them were asleep by the end
A Yes, well, exactly The thing is he's usually very
A I don't think they were actually asleep, [im, Maybe charming, but we certainly got on the wrong side
~2.16 they were just concentrating English is a foreign of him this afternoon. In fact, they were all going
Speaker 5 These days we hear a lot about Emotional language for them, you know bananas in there. I could hardly hear mvself think'
Intelligence. In fact, it's become a bit of a cliche, B Hey, there's nothing wrong with their English. Why do they all have to talk over each other' You
But, er, with teamwork playing a bigger and bigger Kenichi got his masters at Stanford, for heaven's can't get a word in
part in business, what we're finding is the teams sake! And I couldn't stop the other two talking when B I-Im It looks to me as though they just can't stick to a
we've put through some EI training really do get we took them out for a beer last time they were over, decision once it's made And there's all this emotion
better results It's like the venture capitalist John A Oh, yeah, I remember That was a quite an evening! flying about We're going to have to watch that
Doerr says, 'in the world today there's plentv of Well, maybe it's jet lag A Anvwav, the main thing is it all ended amicably,
technology, plenty of entrepreneurs, plenty of
Erzsebet tried to smooth things over And Tabor was
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·~; 11·.~11-!1JIMG SCllll'T·.
_____::II_
\e1~··c1pologctic. afterwards, So 110 real harm done. It B You know, I hav c a good book on doing business What \\'<JS it Franklin D. Roose\ cit saicJ? The onh
\\<JS definite I:· a good idea to defer an: final clccision with the Germans I could let ;011 borrow, not that it's thing to fear is fear itself' That's the thing I'm
until the next meeting. helped me much afraid of. still, after all these) ears in business - fear
A \\'ell, ~es No point 1ushi11g them if the: 're not icadv, The Germans H.icliculous, isn't il? But fear's an c1bsolute killer in a
We've got to have buv-in from them first .. presentation. )'our mot1lh goes ch~. Your heart speeds
A Well, Inge. I think that w cut ratherw ell
The Hungarians B Yes, I think so Pei haps the French needed a bit
up Yonr legs turn to jelly, Ill m: e\:perience, the first
l\\O minutes arc usualh the \\Orst. SurVi\e those and
A \Vcll, I think we got our point across - hnallv! more pcrsnacling that these final stages of the
you're in\\ ilh a ch;mce,
Component manufacture has lo stav in I-lungary_ project require some modification, but, all in 0111, a
B Yes, the- ccrt aiulv got the message, 'Iabor, In fact, successful meeting. :,: 2,22
perhaps we overdid it a little A You think I shoulcl have shown them the figures
Er, well, I think the most importcmt thing to
A Overdid it? \Vlwt do :cm mean? from the Munich study?
remember is that people expect: otl to he an expert
B Well, \Oil kno« whul the British arc lrkc, The- hate B Nu, no I don't think that was necessarv. As J matter in your field ofhusiness_ l mean a real e\:pert That
making a scene. I think :ou mo: hnv c shocked them of fact. I don't kno-v li0\\1 well prepared the: were means\ 011 should ha\ call the tcchmcal information
a little \\ ith \ Olll . _ crm. outburst They seemed a Jillie confused during the last part of at your.Fingc1tips. \Vhich is not to sci: the~ won't
your presentation. \\';mt to sec 1t <lll in print after the presentation 01s
A Well, sotucbodv had lo sa\ it. Otherwise, w cd just
have spent the whole afternoon in small talk I A Oh, do \'OU think so? But [can-Claude had such a \\ell. And if \'Ou clo11 't cm ere\ en detail in \our
mcuu Brian is a \'er: nice guy, but lie can ncv er gel lot to sa\ about it afterwards. In fact. I could hnrdlv pitch - costings, cash-Rm\ prnicchons, e\ er: thing
Lo the point What is rt "ith the British. Ei zscbct? stop him, but he takes so long to get to the point -belie\e me, the: \\on'l be slcm to intcrn1pt:m1
\,Vh: don't thcv just sa:· what's on their mind? They sometimes, I'm quite lost b~ the encl. to ask for il People hel"c seem to like Pon er Point,
seemed to think o;c "ere ready to proceed with the B I know what \'OU mean, But I think ifs better just the" hole tcclrnolog:• thing, :•ou kncm. A'' orcl of
who]c project If that w as the case, "h: \\ oulcl \\ e to let him make his little speech and th cn v, e can \\'a ming, though: forget the jokes If\ ou tn• to be a
be h<J\'ing a meeting? It's not a social \ isit, And if ah1.,a~1s get back to the main business later. 'You have comedian, the: j usl \\on 't t<1kc :·011 scnousl~
the: think we're going to give the go-ahead to this cit to shcm a little more cultural scnsitivitv. Christian! ,..., .... ~"'.)
the next meeting, they can think again! There are a A Yes. I know •·''-·'-"'
dozen things w c need to discuss first. Not that the: B What did surprise me was the: didn't seem to want Frm, I think the mc1in thing hc1'c is to gi\ e ~our
wanted to discuss them In fact, thcv hardlv said a to question our original plan at all. And they didn't presentalion the pc1scmal touch. Tlut's \\hat
word, appear to he \IC~ interested in :our proposal. the:• \'aluc ahm e e\'Crything else You sec, the~ 're
B No, I noticed that And w lien the: do sa: something, A Yes. I noticed that too. But couldn't thcv sec how jt1clging )Oll as mucl1 as, if not more than,\\ hat
it's all a hit \ague. An: wa:, I think it was all right in \'ou'rc actually talking about But, L'.flll, I think too
much better our idea was? I thought the figu1cs
the encl. ;nan:· prescntc1s \\orry about offending the local
spoke for themselves.
A Yes, Brian's quite an amusing gu:, when he wants culture and then the:· encl up sounding much too
B And the \\ oman they brought with them this time
to be. J liked his store about 'laiwan. I don't have a consenati\c, Don't, Be loud, he livcl:, he cloyuenL
didn't sa~ verv much, did she?
problem with him It's just that\\ c need to spend The, lm c all that_ lt"s ti ue that attention spans do
A Monique? No, she seemed verv unhappv about lend to he ;1 hit short sometimes ancl :ou'll get loads
much more time Oil this There's a lot of risk
something. I think they said she came from their of interruptions, but just go\\ ith the Am\, Tn all:
attached.
head office, but I couldn't reall)' sec what her role case, people will probahl: \\ant to talk to :au about
B Hiu I'll call him tomorrow and have a little chat was All v civ Ill\ stcrious e\ er: thing all mer agam later
A Good idea ... B \.Vell, any\\·a:. I .et's make sure we put all the
information iu v, riling and e-mail it to them as soon ~2.24
~; z.zo as possible. That w ill give them a chance to read it 3 Well, il's almost a clichc. lmi lhe hard sell docs
Meeting 3 all throngh actuall\ \\Ork here. :\nd, belie\C me, \Oll realh1 can't
The French A '{es. I\1e aheacl~ gut someone \\orking on thaL be too asserti' c. In fact, the~ want: ou to impress
A You know, Philippe, I cau never come out of B Splendid. So, let's call it a cla\' .. them and expect you to \\Ork hard to maintain their
these meetings with the German tcam w ithoul interest. So, be fas~, he slick, make sure~ ou h;we a
a headache, i\.1: god, there must have been two few gimmicks tip: our slee\ c, Tlie: like all that stuff_
hundred slides in Christian's presentation And just
08 PROMOTING YOUR IDEAS And :ou c1n sa: as man: nast: things ahcn1t: our
!'OU wait. thcicl] be a hundred-page report on the
same subjcct w c1iting in our c-mail « lien we gel :i 2.21 competitors as ~ ou like - especial!: if the: 're fu1m;,
I-Tumour's necul:' aba:·s c1ppreciatccl, and, er. :ou
home - m case we missed something! I Erm, well, to tell \'Oil the tmth, there's a part of me clon•t need to be too subtle\\ ilh that The\' clon't
B Well,\ ou knO\\ hoo, thcv like their detail, Jean· that's still scared (might just dn up complctch, I \'ant dark sarcasm, thm1gh - so nothing too negati\ e_
Claude rm afraid I just switch off when rt all gets mean, you know, :'our mind goes complete]:' blank? \Visecracks, clc\'cr remarks - that's what the.' tend to
loo boring. What I don't understand is \\hy the: have _;\,;lakes me s\\eat just thinking ahout it I ha\e this go for,
to keep gomg over e\ery point ~1gain and again. Do nightmare\\ here the audience has gone dead]~
the: tliink v, c arc stupid? quiet, and e\ erybocl: in the room's just staring at me
:; 2.25
A I know. I mean T thought we were almost read: to and I haven't got a clue "hat to sa~ next! Ifs on!: 4 Erm, my main piece of ach ice here is: don't
sign off on this project. The last deliverables have c1 er happened to me once. thank god, but I still lose O\'ern helm them\\ itli your enthusiasm Of
been shipped, We have Olll instructions from head sleep O\Tr it in case it e\ er happens again course, the: expect :ou to be highl: competent
office What else is there lo discuss' Technolog\. Well, it's Sod's Lm. isn't it' If am thing and confident. but qmcth confident. People" ill
B I think thev call it consultation, The, just want to be can go wrong, il \\ill !\bout a : ear ago, I h;:ld not prohahh ha,'c read through all the papernork
sure e\ er: thing has gone according to plan before one, but two prn1ectors break clown on me And beforehand. hnt thc,:11 want \CHI to go through all
finalising things. then Ill\' mike went funnv as\\ clL I sounded like the main points again, For the sake of formality and
A Consultation' lfhcacl office is hapj», wlr, aren't w e Darth Vader out of Star Wars for about half an politeness, the; 'II \\ant to hea1 it dlfectl: from: ou
hour until they fixed it. Complete!: ruined m: Bnt don't get so cm1 iccl cm a: talking about your
happv? It's not our place lo question how the project
whole presentation, ob\ iousl:· I \\'ent mad\\ ith the 0\\ n ideas that: OlI forget to point out\\ h:' it is their
went I could see Monique getting more and more
technicians aften\ arcls But\\ hat can 'ou do? com pan:• :•ou cspcciall:- \\ant to do business \\ ith
frustrated
I al\\'a\'S seem to run out of time and then have to 'l'hat's \ c~ important- creating a sense of harm on:
B Perhaps the: didn't realise she had been sent from
rush the encl of the talk or, e\ en\\ orse, nm O\Tl and compatibilit: bch\een :ou and them. Oh, and a
head office I felt like thcv w crc ignoring her and,
schedule, Audiences hate that_ I\c Juel people lcll long-term commitment for them, b: lhe \\a~, is 20 to
well, I mean she's the boss really
me I m crp1 epare, hut 1t doesn't seem to m;_1tter \\ liat 25 'cars, not three to fo1c, as it is in the States.
A Qmte. And if the~ wanted a p10per consultation
I do, I ah\a\'S ha\e tit least hvcnh minutes too much
\\"hy weren't \\ c allowed to speak for more than h\ o
m8terial So. for me, e\ er~ talk's a rnce ~1gainst the
minutes at a time? These thmgs have to be « orkecl
clock! I suppose h;n ing a sense ofhumc.un's the main
through, debated, the a1gumcnts \\ eighed against
4 Well, some people. older people cspccialh. ha1 e thing. In fact, :ou Gm't clo \\ ithout it reall)~
each other. You can't just drow nus all in data and
told me that I move around loo nrneh \\hen I speak Certainl:, if :011 ha\en'l made them Lmgh e\en
sav 'there \OU arc. this is what we must do'!
m pt1blic - : ou kno\\, that I pace up and elm\ n and once \\Jlhin the Fiist fi\c mmutes, ~ou probahl:
B Well, at least we're about reach to complete this won't be \'er:· popubr People ma: e\'en S\\ itch off
\\ m c m: arms abouL The~ sa: it's distracting. The:
project It's been a lot of hard \\ ork. So, where arc altogether. Speakers arc kmd of expected to he fairh
can't concentrate on \\hat I'm sa:mg, But for me. as
the: sending~ ou next, [can-Claude? entertaining as well as knm\ lcclgcablc about their
an Halian, :mt know, il's quite normal for us to jump
A Bremen' around, be rather clranwtic. So, nm\ I\\ orr~ about product or sen ice, You don't actuall:1 hm•c to crack
trving to stand still, And that just makes me feel jokes the \\hole time, hut tmccdotcs and amusing
tense and uncomfortable stories seem to ~o clcm1n \\ell :\faking jokes at )Ollf
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own expense, especially, seems to help build rapport You know the Germans shake hands practically
with an audience that can otherwise seem a bit cold
~2.30 before every meeting? Even if they've alreadx met
and unfriendly, And don't tf} to \VO\V them too much Extract 3 von!
with technology. Be too techno and pcoplc'Il just B And here it is! The MaxfIut Micro-GYM I 40% Extract 2 Actnall), I think it's last impressions that \\C
think you're showing off of our project budget went into constructing the sometimes overlook, I mean, it's the impression )OU
prototype. And it's taken 18 months to get this leave people with that counts. If you're meeting a lot
~2.27
far with the design. But isn't this just the coolest of people all at the same event, it's easy just to drift
6 Being stylish seems to be what matters here~ both thing? I'll pass it round in a moment Ladies and around from group to group and never really make
in terms of your personal appearance and ho-v you gentlemen, what you're looking at is the world's contact, like some kind of social buttcrAi,
actually come across as a person It's true that you smallest full-body workout system - ever It's the I think vou've got to be good at listening and drawing
do have to keep up a certain formalitv and your talk ultimate go-an)'\\here exercise machine, And, people out, investing some time in them and then
should alwavs be logical and well-organised, but we believe, it could be a significant part of this making sure you close the conversation in a positive
within those constraints you can be 85 imaginative company's future With its sleek, lightweight design, way The old 'Oops, gotta go Been great talking to
and innovative as , ou like In foct, unless you the Micro-GYM "eighs just over a pound, or vou' thing is m1lly bad Or 'Herc's mv card. Give me
are offering something pretty special, something 450 grams That's less than most qualitv cameras a call' Wav too impersonal You have to be careful
'sexy', something unique that they haven't seen Disassemblecl, it fits easilv into a coat pocket. The how vou end the conversation because that's what
before, vou'H find them very difficult to persuade assembly itself is child's play, Yon can be ready to people are going to remember And there's no point
Obviously, knowing exactly who you're presenting to exercise in under 45 seconds "Now, I know what having the conversation in the first place if) ou're
is always important, but here it really is essential that you're thinking Can something so small possibly not going to Irv and make that person feel like it's
vou do your homework. And, er, don't be surprised work? Yes, it can. The Micro-GYM offers 35 different been realh worthwhile.
if the questions ) ou get asked seem quite hostile. exercises for upper body, lower body and mid- Extract 3 I think a good sense of humour is essential
Tough questioning is all part of the busirn:ss culture section It can be adjusted from the fiv·e-kilo setting At least, in Britain mid America, it is Humour's \'Cf'.>
here for gentle exercise right up to the I 8-kilo setting for much how we build relationships mer here. On the
a real workout In fact, it can do just about anything other hand, have) ou ev er done business in Finland?
~2.28 that much bulkier and more expensive equipment I have Ven different situation Yon can forget the
Extract I can When sou can't get to the gvm, the Micro- humour Thev don't even realh like small talk all
A Good morning, everybody Thanks for coming. I'm GYM comes to you You can get fit at home, on that much. 'I'hcv 'l] strip off" ith you in the sauna, no
Rachel Weissmuller, area manager for the north- vacation, at the office, even in-flight' problem! But the)' don't gi\ e much ; may personally.
west division, and this is Brad Kenncdv, head of our Just not part of the business culture there.
~ 2.31
physiological research unit , Of course, it mm be that thev just don't understand
B Iii Extract 4 our humour. I mean, humour's very cultural, isn't
A As some of \OU alrcach know, Brad and I have been A You'll have to excuse Brad I-le gets a little carried it? You watch a comedv on a foreign TV channel
\\orking on a project of our own for some time now a\\ ay sometimes. But" c do think the Micro-GYM and it's hard to see what on earth they're laughing at
- a project, which we think you're going to be as could be an enormously successful sideline to 'I'hev probably think the same about our [okes
excited about as we are Hracl? our main business. OK, to \.\rap things up 'I 'he But then I think jokes arc usuallv a mistake, an~'\\a~,
Micro-GYM has been fulh costed - a complete unless yon know the other people \'er~' wel! But~ ou
B Thanks, Rachel Well, now, as the USA's leading
breakdown is included in the report Estimated don't have to tell jokes to be humorous Better just to
chain of health clubs \\ ith over 1,000 centres m i 5
costs of manufacturing, packaging and advertising make CJ few amusing obscrv ations. The w orst thing is
states, we pride ourselves on providing the best in
are all itemised Product testing is still being carried telling a long complicated joke and noboch laughs
fitness training programs, on getting nearly a quarter
out, but we would obviously need the go-ahead Agonv! Don't do it!
million Americans off the couch and into the gym.
from you before we proceed further with that The
For us, staying in shape is not just a business It's a Extract 4 I "as thinking about a meal \\ e had with
Micro-Cr'M would probablv be priced at around
\lay of life. There's just one problem - the majority some business people from Toulouse the other
$35: well within the reach of most people. It has
of America us don't seem to be getting the message, evening Good clients of ours, actualh We had a
been suggested that exercise demonstrations could
According to the National Center for Health great time, Didn't pack them off to their hotel till
be recorded on video and that the product might
Statistics, seven out of ten of us don't take regular about h\ o in the morning! And, ~ ou know, it struck
easilv be sold online. Both these suggestions would
exercise FoU! out of ten are not physically active me that w hat o, c were really cluing prett~ much all
incur extra costs, but are currently being considered
at all! Figures recentlv published by the Surgeon night" as just telling stories. One of us" ould tell a
The prospects for 'vlicro-GYM arc exciting What we
General show that 61 % of Americans arc now story about somewhere we'd been, something we'd
hope you'll give us today is the authorisation to move
scnouslv oserneight. That's 122 million people' clone or someone we'd met and then that would
on to the next stage. Thank you \'ery much
A disgrnccful statistic. But, you have to admit, a remind someone else of a similar storv and so 011 and
tremendous marketing opportunitvl The question is, B Thank you, Rachel OK, we'd like to throw this so on. Jean-Luc told a slighth naughh storv about a
ho" do we reach that market" ith something totallv session open now for questions and suggestions Feel Belgian supplier of his at a w ine-tasting session, but
new? free to try out the Micro-GYM for yourself But, I'd better' not repeat it'
sorr), you can't take it home It's the only one "e
But, you know, I reckon if you've got a fc,, good
~2.29 have at the moment!
stories son can tell, tlrnt's all sou neecl realh, One
Extract 2 ston leads into another and, I mean it help:s if thev 're
A A recent report claims that a mere l 3% of Americans 09 RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING a bit funny, but as long a!> the} 're true, I think stories
are satisfied with their physical appearance And a rca\l~ connect
staggering 92% are dissatisfied with their current ~2.32 Extract 5 A Of course, no" that\\ e Ji, e in the so-call eel
level of fitness, So, whv aren't they doing something 'network economy', t\'eryronc makes a big deal about
Extract I Yes, well, it's casv to sav don't judge b,
about it? \Ve did a nationwide survey of people appearances, but, I mean.w e all do it, don't we?
neh' orking But it depends who you're net" orking
who had previously show n 8II interest in joining a "ith, 'fake the Russians. I mean, the} 'II hm c a
You take one look at somebody and v ou'rc al reads
MaxOut club and then changed their minds Full serious com ersation n ith you on an) subject} ou
weighing them up, deciding how friendlv thev
details are in the report in front of) 011, but this care to rnmc, but small talk rs not realh their thrng
are, how confident, ho« interesting um, how
chart highlights our main findings. As )Oll can see, Same \Vith the Germans, the S\\ i.ss, the Swedes -
attractive. It's automatic And then two minutes
15% of respondents said joining a gym was simply gcncralh sen good C:nglrsh, happ) to talk about
talking to them and } ou've got them labelled
too expensive 53% said they'd love to join if thev work, but not rcallv keen on the social chit-chat.
- successful, intelligent, pushy, funnv, boring,
weren't so busy And, interestingiy , 327r:, almost I mean, go out\\ ith a group of Russians after work
potentiallv useful contact or not
a third, admitted thcv were just too embarrassed for a fe\\ hecrs and something to eat and the~ rcall~·
You know, I rend somcw here that we actuallv
to join a health club.in their present physical let their hair do"'n' In that sense thev'rc a bit like the
ev aluatc people \\ ithin ten seconds of meeting
condition Thev wanted to get fit first' So, what does Chinese The~ like a big sit-do\\ n meal, plen~ to eat
them. And apparently that's it! Co11 ld then take ten
all this mean? Vi/e think the implications arc clear and drink. What thc1 don't like is the mingling. the
or twenty more meetings" ith that person to alter
There's obv iouslv a huge market for an inexpensive wandering around chatting to peoi}le.
our first impression of them. I'm not so sure that's
alternative to going to the gym for people" ho are Basicalh', it's the British, the French, the Latins
true, but I do think vou can tell a lot about a person
conscious of their appearance but short of time and the .Americans \\-ho are into the schmoozing
on first meeting them. It's the little things~ a classv
And this represents a golden opportunity to stretch thing. Americans, especiall), have made <Jn art of it
watch, a sharp suit, a nice smile, a nervous gesture,
the MaxOut brand and develop a new product that I mean, the) 're ahvm·s easi to talk to. It doesn't get
an ugl) tic Bitten fingernails arc a no-no for me. Or
perfectlv complements our existing business. vcn deep usualh, bnt the) 'II come right up to' ou
a limp handshake The wet fish! Absolute turn-off
and start a co1l\'ers;:tlion and, actuall~, I quite like
Actuallv, I think a good firm handshake is rcullv
that Working the room, the\ call it, and that's what
important. I'm n orking in Cermanj at the moment
il is for them - \\ ork
LISTENING SCRIF'TS I
www.frenglish.ru
~ l lSTENH.JG SCRIPTS
---~ - ...:----
A Absolute Iv, absolutelv A pleasure meeting' ou, Mr morning Beautiful day. though
:; 2.33 Toth A Isn't it? Well, now, we should probabh be thinking
Conversation 1 B Likew ise of making a men c quite soon, Unfortunately," e
A Alessandro! A Coodb, c now, can't count on the w eathei sta~ ing fine at this time
B Hello, Jeanine! How are you? I didn't expect to sec of vcar Max,' ourc partnering Karen And Stella,
B Coodbve,
you here! v ou'rc stuck \\ ith me, I'm afraid Now, I've arranged
~ 2.36 for us to ha' c lunch at the clubhouse - thev 'vc got
A No, I don't norrnallv come to these thmgs. But a
an excellent restaurant there So I thought we'd start
colleague couldn't make it, so I stepped in at the last Conversation 4
at the tenth and just pla\ the last nine holes, if that's
minute. A Hello, Jake, Long time no see! OK \dth ~·ou That wa: \\C should be able lo get
B How long has it been? B Duncan' Hello' Yes, I'd forgotten 'our Anthouv's a round the course in a couple of hours or so
A Oh, ages. A rear, at least You're looking very well. pupil here too. B Sounds perfect
B Just got back from holidav St Lucia A Just started this vear A And, Max, I think vou'Il find Ill) game's improved a
A Luck. you! Look, Alessandro, I was [ust on m~ \\J~ B Of course How time flies! Last time I sac him he little since w e last plaved
to an appointment. was at junior school. C Splendid' I alwavs like a challenge, Craig. You know
B Oh, OK No problem Don't let me keep \'OU A 'I 'hat's right And how 's Ian doing? :Vlnst be off to that ...
Perhaps I'll catch vou later. universilv soon.
A I hope so As a matter of fact, I should be free in B Yes, Oxford in the autumn, He's reading medicine ~3.02
about an hour or so. Will you still he around then? A Oh, congratulations! You must be \'Cr~ proud of him Extract 2
B Oh, )CS It's just me on the stand this ~e~n, I'm afraid B Cleverer, than his old clad, that's for sure! A Damn! I don't know what's the matter with my game
A Oh, well, in that case, whv don't I mcct v ou back A So, how's retirement trcating v on? I expect: ou 're todm I just can't seem to keep the ball straight.
hcrc w hen I'm done and perhaps \\'C cm go out for never off the golf course. are you? Sarr), Stella You must be w ishing von'd been
a drink- or grab a bite to eat if vou're free I've lots teamed up'' ith :~via>.
B Well, it gets me out of the house And out from
of new s to tell \ ou. And I want to find out all about B Vv'ell, : ou ha, e been in h\ o sand-traps and a lake,
under Helen's feet!
\'OUT holich1\! Craig' And this rs onh our third hole'
A How is Helen?
B Great. No, I've no plans for this evening See ~ou A I know, I know Your shot, Ma,
B Ven well, verv ''ell As a matter of fact, \\ e were just
later, then B Craig, I've been meaning to have a word with you
talking about , 011 and Anne the other dav, saving
about this disposal operation of ours
~2.34 what a long time it w as since" e'd seen ~ ou
A Yes, it's been loo long We reallj must get together A Ah, I was \\ ondering "hen) ou'd get round to
Conversation 2 mentioning that Look, Stella, :ou knm\ lll) position
soon. Oh, hang on, I think Anthon: 'sin this race
A :Vis Mendoza? Oil that ,
Better go and cheer him OIL Catch you later.
B Yes B No\\,_ Ciaig, listen to me, You knm\ I '''mt that oil
B Yes Sec' ou later on
A How clo 'Ott do? I don't think we've been platform disposed of at sea It's b, far the most cost-
introduced I'm Martin. Martin Shac , the new ~ 2.37 effecti' c method Oh, som, Max Nott" mg to put
assistant sales manager for our Central American 'ou off' our game Oh, great shot! Wm,, that's almost
Conversation 5
di' ision First w eek here, as a matter of fact all the "a\ to the flag' Craig, von didn't tell me Max
A Good morning Ms Vatland?
B Oh, pleased to meet vou Welcome to Mexico! ''as such a fantastic pla: er
B That's right.
A Thanks' A No, I, er, look, Stella, this oil platform -disposing of
A \Ve haven't met. I'm Daniel Crane. Ana Lindstrom it at sea_ Don't \OU think that's a bit risk\·? I knm\ it's
B So you're \\orking with Richard, no?
gm e me ) our name, She might have mentioned technicall) possible But there must be 1 30 tonnes
A That's right. me? of high)~· toxic and rndioacti' c substances on that
B I head up the biotech team at Zan tis here in B Ah, .vlr Crane' Yes, .vna said vou'd be stopping b1 platform!
Tampico. Perhaps Richard has mentioned me. Can I offer: ou an) thing? A coffee. mineral '' atcr, B Craig, ~ou'1c starting to sound like a Greenpeace
A Yes, of course He told me all about vour set-up here fruit [urce, perhaps? acti,·ist, for goodness' sake! ··- B: the wa), I
Actuallv, Richard's just been detained for a moment. A Thank ~ ou, a mineral \\ ater '' ould be 'er: nice understand you've applied for the top job here in
But I'n~ sure he'll be joining us shortly. Can I get )Oll
B OK. ... There ~ ou go_ Sohm' are~ ou cnjo, ing the Scotland.
am thing to drink. Vis Mendoza?
FaJT? A Yeah, so?
B No, I'm fine. thanks. And please, call me Victoria
A Well, this is all new to me, but I'm hoping to B So's Max.
A Right. Victoria," ell, vou don't mind if I make some useful contacts. It's ccrtaink been an A What'
B No, no, of course not! Do :ou drink tequila, Martin? e~ e-opener so far I'd no idea the industry was so
B Yeah Ami the wa\ it's looking he ma\ well get rt,
A Well, I, er, think I tried it once, back when I was dev eloped here
Seems the boa1d like his competitive spirit
a student. Seem to remember being carried home B Oh, \'CS There's a lot of interest right now, I
A I sec.
afterwards! understand from Ana that vou're looking for agents
B Of course, I could probabh-put in a \\Orel for mu,
B Oh clear Well, there's tequila and there's tequila in Scandinavia, is that right?
Let's talk later For the time being, I'd like' ou to
Whv don't I order something I) picalh Mexican for A Yes, that's right We're also looking for a good
concentrate on ) our game! I'm not a good loser,
\OU? business la\\ ver with local knov ledge to \\ ork \\ ith
Craig'
A Sure, whv not? over here I don't know if :ou happen to know of
B Por favor: anv boch? ~3.03
B Well, I can think of several people who might be
~ 2.35 Extract I
able to help mu there And, as far as agents are
A Magdat
Conversation 3 concerned, I can certainly put , 011 in touch with
some' Cf) professional operations. B Hello, Anne Brrrt It's a bit nash out there tomght
A This is reall: \'er: interesting. :Vlr Toth. I'm sure \\C
A That w oulcl rcalh be' en· helpful, :Vis Varland A Horrible, isn't it? Come on m. Let me take~ our
could prm ide just the sort of h: draulic s~ stems: ou 'd
coat. You managed to find us OK, then?
need for a project like this and we'd be able to do B Please, Lena
-
: ou a' erv good price . ~ Oh, m~ goodness! Is that B Well, I got a bit lost commg off the ring road, as
A Lena Ana said ~·ou were the person to talk to and I
the time? l've got a taxi coming in ten uunutcs to usual. Sorn I'm J bit late.
can see that she ''as right.
take me to the airport A Oh, don't \\orry l\ilartin's still shn ing <l\\a~ in the
B Oh, vou're leax ing this evening, arc you? .._i 3.01 kitchen. Actualh, he had a bit of a crisis\\ ith the
starter just half an hour ago. You should have heard
A Onh flight I could get. I'm afraid What a nuisance' Extract I
the language! Probabl) just as well~ ou weren't here.
I'd have liked to discuss this further w ith 1 ou A Stella! J'vfax! You're just in time to join us in a little
B Oh, right. So Martin's cooking, is hef
B Not to \\orr: Here ism: card. Wh, don't :ou give pre-match drink
me v ours, and I'll gi\ e vou a call when I get back to A Mm He's quite an expert in the kitchen -
B Hi, Craig I-Ii, Karen Oh, is that malt w hiskv? I don't
the office? fortunateh for me I can't boil an egg myself!
know if I should I mean, I just had breakfast'
A Of course. Here :ou arc. I'm really very sorry to B Oh, I brought' ou this I "asn't sme \\hat \OU liked,
A Nonsense! It's just the thing to warm us up, vlax,
but apparentl) it's meant to be quite a goocl year,
have to rush off like this. you'll have one, wont vou?
B No problem, It's been interesting chatting to you. A Oh, thanks. You shouldn't h;we_ Lmeh. I'll put it in
C Of course, thank 1 ou,
Perhaps we can meet up again to discuss things in the friclgc Corne on through
J\ There vou go Stella'
more depth
B Well, OK just a drop It is a little chilh this
I LISTENING SCRIPTS
www.frenglish.ru
A Magda, I've been meaning to talk to you about this better idea and it is quite possible to fall from the
~3.04 business in Poland sixth Aoor and Inc But don't jump out from the
Extract 2 B Oh,) cs, that. building unless there arc balconies in the \\a~ You'll
be carried forn ard and miss the truck completclv,
B Oh, what a fabulous apartment' A Do )OU know what's going on there? Because no one
Drop vertical}, and take care to land on ~our hack to
A Thanks We like it seems to be able to tell me an) thing,
avoid breaking it
B Have you been here long? C Right, well, excuse me a moment If) ou two arc
A Um .. about two years now. The whole place was going lo talk business, I'll go and sec to the dessert :i3.12
an absolute wreck when we moved in We had to do 6 The taxi could take an) thing from a fcv. minutes
just about everything to it Now, what can I get ~on B Well, I ought to be making a move soon. Earlv start to just a fc\\ seconds to sink But there's nut much
to drink? How about a gin and tonic? That's what I'm tomorrow, point tr;.•ing to force the door open because the
having. C Oh, son don't have to rush off justs et, do vou? Hoss '' atcr pressure w ill make this almost impossible.
B Yes, that'd be great about some more coffee? If the car does sink there'll be little or no air left
A Ice and lemon? B OK, just half a cup And then I realh must be going an) \\'8), so forget about trapping air inside. B) far
B Please. the most sensible thing to do is to open the window
and actuallv let more water in. Even if vou can't
A OK I'll be nght back Makes ourself at home B Well, thank you both for a Iovelv evening. Martin,
escape through thc o, indow, once the water pressure
vou'rc a brilliant cook.
inside and outside the c<J1 arc equalised, there's a
C Hi, Magda I'm Martin. I don't think we've met, C I know There's no point den) ing it
fair chance vou'Il be able Lo open the door and save
B Hello, Martin Pleased to meet) OLI, You're the chef, B Next time you must come to Ill) place, although I yourself - and mav be the driver too!
I understand can't promise ~ou such a fabulous meal.
C Oh, vcs Domg a good job of setting fire to the A Bve, ~fagcla. 'fake care now. See )OU tomorrow ~3.13
kitchen at the moment. I had to rescue the starter It's very unusual for both parachutes to fail, sobs
B So I heard 10 TAKING DECISIONS struggling with the cmerge11C) chute there's an
A Ah, so v 011 two have met. Good There we .u c, outside chance vou'll get rt to work. But don't bet
Magda, I .ct me know if you wnnf more ice in that ~3.07 on it You ma) just be wasting precious time If! ou
can share one of vour Incnds' parachutes you're in
B Thanks Don't en think about jumping from a mm ing
C\ with a chance, but just grabhing onto the nearest
A A1c w c ncarl~ readv, then, darling? vehicle, At 70 miles per hour the chances of person is not a smart mm e The G-force when the
C Er, v es, I'm just ssaiting for the sauce In fact, I'd sun iving are remote. And crashing into the parachute opens "ill th10" s OLI apart At 14,000 feet
better go and check on it I don't trust that new mountainside al this speed w ill almost certuinlv and falling at )Our terminal \elucit) of 120 miles
cooker. send ) ou straight through the \\ iudscrccn. So, ev en per hour vou've gut about 75 seconds before your
A Oh, OK though son mas be scared of going mer the cliff, appointment" ith Mother Earth. So firmlv attach
~our best chance of slowing the cm elm' n is to
:i 3.05 rcpcatcdlv run it against the crash barriers After all,
) ourself to the chest straps of another parachutist
You don't stand a chance uulcxs v ou do.
Extract 3 that's what thcv 're there for.
LISTENING S<;:RIPTS
www.frenglish.ru
I LISTENING SCRIPTS
www.frenglish.ru
LISTENING SCRIPTS I
www.frenglish.ru
~ 11srn.11NG scsurs
- --~-~-
Right from the start i\lalh a had big plans for Kingfisher lo all' usuallv indicates a tune-waster, whilst am one w ho l\licrosoft i11 tlie Internet brcmscr market - until,
Airlines Seeing a split in the market between premium- uses the 'blank carbon cop~' to sccrctlv iuv oh c' the boss thc1t is, l\licrosoft Lm~e1s unecnthecl an e-mail from
pnced full service carriers and the poor. almost bus in e-mails lo colleagues, is a poor player of office politics Netscape president J1111 Clark to a senior C:\ccutivc
service, qualitv of low-cost carriers. he decided to cane and dchuitclv not to he trusted. at \Iicrosoft stating clea1 l~: '\i\le do not wallt to
out a new niche with a valneacldcd budget airline. ()\\ ens's research also reveals that anyone who has a compete "ith ~011.' And rv'llcrosoft, for its part,
\Vith prices lower tlum ccollom~ class on the FSCs ha hit of fon,<1rding jokes or sendmg animated clcch onic denied om\ attempt to push Netscape out of the
and onlv slighth higher than the LC Cs. he purchased greetings cards is destined never to reach the level market - ;rntil an e-mail from Bill Cates lo AOL
brand-new planes and equipped them \\ ith statc-of- of senior management. An m cruse of smile. s and C\:ccuti\ cs \\as suhmittccl as C\ iclcncc. The e-mail
the-art in-flight entertainmentsvstcms and tastefully other more elaborate emoticons fm thcr undermines read 'Hem much do we need lo pa~ ~·ou to sere\\
designed cahms Under the slogan 'Fl~ the "good times', professionalism and guarantees ~ou won't be taken :-.ictscapc?' Oh, dear'
he stretched a brand alrcuc]v farnili:n to millions of scriouslv, According to Owens, office jokers pb~ an So the messo1gc is clecn VVith e-mail, honest:- is not
Indians and introduced the-Kingfisher 'Iunliner', a true important social role - thev boost morale and are al11a1S the best polic1. Ancl if1ou mnst tell the truth.
trav cl experience for India's rapid!~ c:\panding ~ mmg unlikclv to be fired, but the, don't 1 en often get think h' ice hcforc clicking that send hutton,
professional class. promoted A Tht1t \\<.ls Terr~ I.cmc;,ister talking ;,ihout the biggest
In spite of winning the Best :\e\\ Arrlinc A« ard in But is it reallv true that bad e-mail is good' A stud. e-mail blunders C\ er made And nm\ a sneak previe\\
2005, it wasn't, however, an eas\ iouruev Between attributed to Cambriclge Universitv anc] w idclv of Lhe latest in\\ ireless tcchnolog~
2005 and 2006 new entrants cr~11 dee! i1;to the domestic circulated on the internet. claims that bad spelling.
airline market. Auel things rcall~ st.u tccl to hot 11p when at least, is not much of a barrier to couuunuication
market leader )el Air« a1 s acquired Sahara and slashed And sune~s suggest that when native English speakers
13 MAKING AN IMPACT
its prices to better compete with Kingfisher Kmgfisher recciv c e-mails from non-natr, cs, the List thing the,
had, contrm ersiallv, gone for a single Kingfisher class, :,, 3.29
care about is the grammar So, if :ou want to sta~ on the
rather than separate business and cconomv classes. C'.\Ccutn c fast-track, don't\\ astc; 011r time on e-mail - Did you kno" that of the \\'oriel's Olll' hundred
With sh cngth both at the top uuc] bottom encl of the ~ ou 'rc supposed to be much too bus~·! biggest economics on!~ 49 ~nc acttwll~ cmmtrics?
market, [et-Sahnra now represented a significant th real.
But ,'vlalh a refused to be put off ll\ either the fierce :i 3.28 That's right, -!9_ The other ) I arc companies' In fact,
if companies\\ ere allo\\'ed to join the G7 group of
competition 01 elusive profits, and remained confident the \\orld's 1ichest counhies, !\licrosoft \\oulcl take
A This 11eek on C1 berReport Tem Lancaster takes
that, after a period of consolidation, a smaller number of the place of Canada I I think it's gcttmg a little scan',
a look at some of the higgcst e-mail hlunclers C\ er
profitable pluvcis would emerge from the price war clon 't 'ou, ''hen a corpcm1tion can outperfo1 m a
made,
He 11elS prm ed spcclacularl, right In 2007 Kingfisher B In April 2000 millions of compLiter nsers recci' eel an natio1;? And Ill<l~ be it's time to stop and ask ourseh es:
acquired the biggest low-cost carrier Deccan, rcbiamling should business 1et1ll~ he thtit pcmerful?
m1e'\pectecl e-mail The suhject line \\<JS intriguing
it as Kingfisher Reel This placed the compam in the It said '] Im e 1 ou' Those 11 hose curiosil1 got the 2 You knm1, the joke books of the 11 oriel are probabh
top two Indian private airlines, cut elm' ll opc-rafiounl fu II of more L.m \er jokes th<-1ll just about an~ thing
better of them opened the message and unlcashecl
costs and accelerated its progress towards profitabilitv, \\hat later became kno\\ n as the Lo\'e Bug - a \ irus else One of 111); favourite lawyer jokes is: this gu~ 's
Ami in 20119 it shocked the iudustrv ill' pushing through so lethal it has so far infected-+) million PCs and hm ing a quiet clrink in a b;n \\hen a clnmk starts
an alliance with its old riva] Jet Airwavs Kingfisher and caused SS./ billion" orth of damage to computer shouting 'All Lm~ers are dirt) criminals!' The m;m
Jet 110\\ code-share flights, and points cm ardcd on their jumps to his feet and cries 'I rcsL·nt that remark!'
nch\ orks \\ orlcl" 1dc
frequent flier programmes can he redeemed at either '\\'ll\?' sa\s tlic clnmk 'Arc \OU a la\\\cr?' 'No' sms
Compute1 'iruscs like the Lm e Bug smrncl likc C\ci:-
airline, Talk about slceping w ith the enem~ I the man, Tm 01 criminal!' But I'm here to tell )Oll
comp<:1n~ 's worst nightmare. But the reo1l clanger
Throughout the histor, of the compan~, it has been
these da~ s is nol so much \\hat can get into~ our tlwt not all hm·~ L'rs arc corrupt Ifs just 99r1r of them
.\lalh<J's willingllcss to break rules, buck trends and seek \\ho gi\ e the others <l lx1d nt1me
e-mail S\'stcm as ,,]wt can get out You just nc\er
out f;esh markets that has kept him ahead. He makes Coocl morning Erm, I'd like to start off b) thanking
knm\ ''here that e-mail ~ ou nm' regret sending ma~·
no secret of lus aim to make Kingfisher the undisputed Dr Jcnscu, Dr 'Em and. er, Dr 'dartiucz. of the
end up-
number one Indian airliuc I Iis latest venture is into facult~ of c~ bernetic engineering for im iting me
The first high-profile blunder occurred in 1997
international flights, for « luch he has just taken deli, erv to speak tocla~- Our compan~ has a long histor~ of
\\hen emplo: ees al the Norwich Union insurance
of five Airbus A.380s It's a high-risk strategy, 11 ith collabcm1tio11 \\ith this uni\crsih and it's al\\ms a
compan~ sta1tecl spreading a 1umour about a
questions about the reliabilit. of the super jumbos and great plc<1s1uc to address the robotics c\:pcrts of the
competitor on their mternal e-mail s~ stem, \Vestcrn
the glohal airline mclustr~ in frecfoll, but w ho can doubt future. E11n, \TS~ before I hegin, perhaps I could j11st
P1miclent, the~ said, \\as about to go bankrupt
that the king of good times won't fl1 through the current lake a 1110me;1l or t\\ o to introduce \ ou to the rest of
\Veslern Prm iclent \\'as not about lo go bankrupt, and
economic turbulence and steer his unique atrlmc into m~ team, \\ho Jrc here \\ itl1 me this morning ...
"hen the e-mails suggesting it" as came into thc1r
serious p10fit?
possession. it sued The case \\as C\entuall~ settled 4 I think it was Th01rn1s Fdison who said: 'I hmT not
out of court for a cool £-!50,0011 failcd. l\c just found 10.1100 11a\S that don't 110rk.'
12 E~MAILING Three\ cars later, Londoner Claire S\\ ire bric A\ Of cou1sc, Edison \\as an irncntor, hut he could
becam~ a celebrit~ \\hen sexuall~ explicit e-mails she just as casih• ha1 e been talking about sales. In sales.
:,, 3 27 sent to her bm fnend "ere forn ardccl to mailbo'.\cs our success rate is nm\ here near as hacl as om.: in
1 ight across the 11 oriel It might not ha1'e been so bad. 10.000 -\t least. it better not be! But 11e ha1e to go
\Velcome to the In Comfxmv Business Podcast Career tlnougli an cmful lot of'no sales' to make one sale,
had S\\ ire's bm·fricncl not worked for Norton Rose, a
Spot ;\ml the abilil\ to cbil 11 ith failu1e is the single
com pan~ \\ hic•h gi' es specialist ach ice to businesses
Forget about spelling, S\\ itch off~ our g1ammar-check, most importa;1t characteristic of the successful sales
on effcctiYc clectromc commumcations.
and ~ ou just might e-mail ~our\\ a~' to the lop of the professional. Could )OU just raise your hand if
Unclerstanclabh-, then, \\hen Dow Chemical
corporate ladder According to research b~ Professor \ ou failed to make a sale\ eslercla\?, • Just about
discm1erecl hun,clrecls ofX-ratecl e-mails being
Dav id Owens of Vanderbilt Univ ersitv into what vour ~'er~ bod~, right? \Vcll, cc;ngratul;1hons! '{ou·rl'
e\:changecl hch\cen members of staff, the compan~
e-mail sa~ s about , our career prospects, sloppv. hastil~ ob\ iousl~ cm the 1ight twck!
took no chances, It fired 7-f cmplo~ccs and
\\ rittcu e-mails arc a clear sign of leadership potential. I was looking through the appointments pages the
·1 ligh-status people in a company' he sa~ s, 'send suspended a further-!3\
other da\ - clcm-t \\e all? - and came across tl11s
short messages and they huvc the worst grtimmar mid But disciplining~ our staff ekctronicall~ isn't ah a~ s
Lmusual job ach ertisernenl. Herc it is: 'Good hours,
spelling in the firm This isn't became thev are the least a good idea. as the CEO of Cerner, l\eal Patterson,
e-..,:cclknt pa~, fun pbcc to \\'ork, p;:iicl training, mean
educated The~ just don't have time to waste on the fmmcl out to his cost, \Vhcn Patterson reprimanded
boss' Oh. 11ell. four out of fi1e isn't bad' Wouldn't
small stuff.' 400 managers by e-mail, his criticisms somehm\
\ 011 like to be i11tcn ic\\ eel b, tlut boss \\ho admits
Owcns's stud, shows that high-fliers invest more time in f011nd their" a,· onto the Yahoo! '' chs1te - for all the
he's mean' ]Ill\\ ptmerful that little touch ofl10nesl\
\\oriel to see Cerner stock fell b\ 28~{: "'ithin the
'face-mail', face-to-face mcctings w ith those the~ need to is -\.11(] that's c-..,:acth \\hat I \\ant to talk to \Ou ab0t1t
\\Cek
liaise « ith or persuade. This lea\ es them )USt a fe\\ brief this morning: honest:· in ach ertising And how ~\HJ
moments during the da~ to clash off e-mails confirming Alic! at \.lcrrill L~ nch in 2002, the com pan~ ended get people's attention 11 hen 1 ou sirnph tell the truth
what \\<JS decided, making last-minute changes and l:- ing up pa1 ing out S 1110 million 11 hen I lenf\ Bloclget. an
up an~ loose ends. Frcqucntlv the e-mails of natural- Internet stock anal~st, strong]~ recommended bu~ ing
6 Whene1 er I'm asked abm1t 'll1tal Qualil\', I think
born leaders arc no more than a phrase: 'Fine b~ me', stock in J compan~ he had pre\ iousl~ clcscrihecl, ill
of the stor~· of lhe, \merican slccl magnate, ,\nclre\\
'Let's do it!', 'OK, see vou at the meeting'. \\hat he thought\\ as a pri' ate e-mail, as 'a piece of
Carnegie It seems Carnegie\\ as doing a facton
The neath paragraphed j()ll-11 ord e-mail 11 ith a crap'-
lottr one cla~, \\hen he stopped lo speak to one of the
)i'vib attachment, on the other hand. is strictly for But perhaps the most famous business e-mails in machme operators - a grc~ -haired old gu~' ob\ iol!S!~
corporate losers. The message it sends is: m~ [ob rs so h1stori came to light during the 'vlicrosoft antitrust eoming up to l'etirement '\\'ilson,' he st1icl, reading
undenrnnding and lacking in ch;;illenge or responsibilitv, trials. Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale claimccl the man's name badge, 'hem man~ ~cars e'.\actl~ ha\ e
I have hours to craft this e-mail into a" ork of <Ht 'Rcplv his compan~· ne,cr wanted to collaborate" ith ~ otl been \\ orking for me 110\\ ?' 'Thirt;.·-nine, sir,'
I LISTENING SCRIPTS
www.frenglish.ru
Wilson replied with a proud smile 'And nm I add be that this beautiful land" ill again experience the 14 OUT AND ABOUT
that in all those vcurs I made onlv one' en small oppression of one by another
mistake' 'Good work,' mumbled Carncgi~, 'hut from (Nelson Mandela, Pretoria, 10.5,94) ~4.02
now on, please tr) to he more careful.'
~ 3.34 I: Emma
~3.30 A So Emma, what's your worst fl~ing experience?
a What's the main problem we're facing? The main
Extract I In the long historv of the world, onh a fe\\ problem is cash How, B Well, I think the worst one's probably flying back
generations have been granted the role of defending b It's so risk}, so problematic, and} ct so critical to our from Bangladesh to Heathrow It's quite a few years
freedom in its hour of maximum clanger. I do not success ago now, but I can still remember it. We were at the
shrink from this rcsponsrbihfv - I welcome it. I <lo gate, ready to taxi to the runway, and suddenly there
c It's faster, cheaper and easier to use. But, above all,
not believe that an) of us would exchange places was this terrible hammering noise from outside the
it's more reliable
with any other people or an) other generation The plane
energy, the faith, the de, ohon, which '' c bring to d Even if we can never again be the biggest, we can
A A hammering noise?
this endeav ourw ill light our country and all who still be the best.
B Yes, and the strange thing was that the cabin crew
serve it - and the glo" from that fire can tru]v light The point is, more and more graduates are fighting
just seemed to be ignoring it But all you could hear
the '' orlcl And so, mv fellow Americans, ask not over fewer and fewer jobs.
"<IS this bang, bang, bang on the fuselage After a
what your countr_, can do for you - ask" hat you can Not onl: are we number one in Brazi], We're nm' while, some of the passengers were starting to get
do for) our countrv l'vl) fellow citizens of the '' orlcl, number one in Latin America nervous, me included
ask not w hat America will do for vou - but what g In this market, no company has outperformed us,
A I'm not surprised
together \VC can do for the freedom of man. not one - ever!
B Anywa), eventually, after we'd been sitting there for
(John F. Kennedy, Washington DC, 20.1.61) h Not once, in O\'Cr thirt) years ofhusmess, have we about ten minutes \\ ith no announcement and the
ever had a complaint - not a single one!
~ 3.31 plane still not moving, I said something to one of the
stewards and they went and opened the door to see
Extract 2 l sav to \'OU todav, mv friends , so even ~3.35
what was going on
though we face the difficulties of today and Ladies and gentlemen, w c arc truly 011 the brink of a A And what happened?
tomorrow, I still have a dream It is a dream deep I: revolution in bio-technology, I'm reminded of the
rooted in the American dream I have a dream that B The pilot got in'
words of futurist and science fiction writer Arthur
one cLr\ this nation will rise up and live out the true C. Clarke: 'People go through four stages' he said, A You're joking!
meaning of its creed: '\Ve hold these truths to be 'before any rev olutronar, development. Stage one: B No, they'd locked him out Seems quite funny now,
self-evident, that all men arc created equal.' I have it's nonsense, don't waste m: time. Stage two: it's but it didn't at the time
a dream that one dav on the red hills of Georgia the interesting, but not important. Stage three: I ab avs 2: Enrique
sons of former slcl\ es and the sons of former shn c said it \'<JS a good idea. And stage four: I thought of it A Enrique, what's thc w orst flight you've ever been on?
owners will be able to sit elm' u together at the table first' In gene therapv we're about to enter stage four.
C Definiteh the time I was flying from Malaga to
of brotherhood. I ha, s: a cl ream that one dav even the And I'd like this compan) to honestly he able to sav Stansted in the UK This was around the time of
state of Mississippi, a state swelteiing with the heat of 'We thought of it first' Thank 1 ou, the terrible attack on the World Trade Center in
injustice, sweltering w ith the heat of oppression, will 2 Uh-oh. Som. Looks like we've nm out of tune. 2001 and people were still verv nervous about fl)ing
be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. Erm, so I'm going to have to cut it short Er, yeah, I
I have a dream that mv four little children will one A Oh, ves. of course.
was hoping to show ~ ou some of the figures in our
da- Iiv e in a nation where the) will nol be judged b, C I was travelling on business, hut most of the
comparative study But, erm, never mind, I think
the colour of their skin hut h, the content of their passengers were British tourists
you'Il find all the main points are covered in the
character. I have a dream toclnx handout So I'll, er, I'll just leax e copies here and A Uh huh
(Martin Luther King, Washington DC, 28.8.63) you can pick one up on your war out OK So, sorry C Anvwav. w e were cmising at 30,000 feet and I looked
about that That's it Thanks out of the w indow and saw this French air force
~3.32 fighter plane fh ing alongside us
Well, that just about brings me to the end of my
Extract 3 These arc the t" o great challenges of our presentation, except to say that the future of this A What? Oh, ves, I read about this. Didn't the1 think
time - the moral and political challenge, and the company is now in your hands For if there's one the plane h;1d been hijacked or something?
economic challenge The, ha, c to be faced together central message I'd like to get across to you this G Well, apparcntlv, air traffic control had lost radio
and \\C have to master them both. What arc our morning it's this: that this consultancy is no more contact with our plane, so thev weren't sure what
chances of success? It depends on w hat kind of and no less than the consultants w ho represent "as going on and they weren't taking an~ chances
people" care. What kind of people arc \\c? We arc it. And whilst our reputation as a firm ma~ have I mean this French jct was armcd w ith missiles and
the people that in the past made Great Britain the been damaged b~ the recent unfortunate ev ents, evervthing,
\\ orkshop of thc w oriel, the people who persuaded our expertise as a team is in no \\a~ diminished. I A Sounds terrifying!
others to buv British, not b\ begging them to do so, want to see each and e\er~ one of~ ou raising this C It was
but because it was best, \Ve are a people" ho ha, c company to IlC\\ heights. I know ~ ou can. \Ve built
received more Nobel prizes than cin~ othci nation A So, what happened?
our reputation on crisis management, and it would
except America, and head for head we have clone be ironic indeed if we were unable to successful}, C \Vell, the jet was there for about ten minutes
better than America, h\· ice as well in foct \Ve are manage this crisis of our 0\\ n - and come out on top. checking us out. Fortunately, the captain of our
the people w ho, among other things, invented the Thank vou 'en much plane managed to keep even bodv calm And
computer, the refrigerator, the electric motor, the anyway, to cut a long story short, evervthing turned
4 So, how do you sum up the new Spearing
stethoscope, ra:cm, the steam turbine, stainless steel, out OK We C\'Cn landed on schedule I
Silhouette ocean cruiser? I could tell' ou that it
the tank, tele- is ion, penicillin, radar, the jet engine, has won just about C\ er~ boat show m the USA and A But I bet' ou "ere glad to be back on the ground,
hm crcraft, float glass, carbon fibres, ct cetera - and Europe this ~ear, that the orders for it are coming in weren't vou?
the best half of Concorde, so fast we alreadx 11'1\ e a fi, c-v ear waiting list; that C You can Sa) that again!
(Margaret Thatcher, Blackpool, 10.10.75) the first three names on that waiting list, though 3: Joe
stricth confidential. include a famous Holh wood A Joe, have ~ ou had a11~1 bad experiences on planes?
~3.33 actor,' a member of the Saudi Roval Familv and one D Oh, vcs, several, One flight I was on, I couldn't
Extract 4 We arc both humbled and clcvafct] b) the of the world's greatest sporting legends I could also understand \\ hy the: were making us go through the
honour and privilege that \'OU, the people of South mention that, so impressed arc the, with our a-v a rd- lifcjackct drill for landmg on water
Africa, ha, c bestowed on us, as the first president winning design, the directors of the Museum of
A But don't the) alwavs do that'
of 8 united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist Modern Art arc actuallv proposing to place a full-size
model on permanent exhibition But all that would D What, on a domestic flight from Mauchester to
South Africa, to lead our countrv out of the vallcv
foil to do it justice, For the fact is that the Silhouette London?
of darkness We understand it still that there is no
easv road to freedom We know it well that none is in a class of its 0\\ n It is a masterpiece of marine A Oh, right I see what you mean
of us acting alone can achicv c success \Ve must engineering. It is, quite simplv, the most stunningl. D I'm not sure which flight path the) were planning
therefore act together <ls a united people, for national beautiful boat e'er built. Ladies and gentlemen, I to take but it goes nowhere near the sea. But that's
reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a gi' e ~ ou , the Spearing Silhouette! nothing compared to one of m) recent trips to
ucw' "oriel. Let there be justice for all. Let there be Frankfurt
peace for all. Let there be work, bread. water and A Whal happened there, then?
salt for all. Let each know that for each the bodv, D Well. we didn't land in Frankfurt
the mind and the soul ha, e been freed to fulfil
A You were diverted?
themselves Never, never and never again shall it
LISTENING SCRIPTS I
www.frenglish.ru
) 1.ISTF.NING 50~!;>1<;
~ ~~
D No, no, the pilot just lauded in cornpleteh the C Line them up against a" all and shoot the lot of what other people make ~ot1, And" hether or not ~ou
\\ rong countr, r them, that's what I sav ~ourself arc a leader is not for :011 to decide.
A What, ;011 mean he didn't know? A \Ve can alwavs rclv on ~ou for a balanced and
~4.05
D Hadn't got a clue. just about C\Cn bock on the plane maturc v IC\\', Roger
was looking out the\\ inclow s and sa~ ing 'Er, look, C \Vcll, vou know what I mean. Interfering in policies Speaker I In Argentina, er, as in most of Latin
I'm sorr~ to be a nuisance, hut this isn't Frankfurt.' that have nothing to do with them Powermad thev America, I guess, tlic leaderships~ le is quite
arc Ant] who actuallv roted for them, that's v, hat I autocratic. Ceneralh1• le;1dcrs take <lll almost
A So\\ here did vou land?
o aut to know, military ;_1pprnach, It's \er: top-dm,n. This docs
D Luxembourg
not ncccssaril~ mean tlwt ifs just a question of
A Oh, n iv god I I don't believe it! B \\'ell, I'm not sure I'd ..
follm\ ing orders from abm·e Argentiniall companies
A Actuallv, Roger has got a point there, even if he
4: Selina tend to be rather paternalistic_ Leaders tr~ to gclltl~
is being a hit right-\\ ing about it, as usual. A lot
A Selina, v ou'v c Hewn all mer the world You must persuade subordinates that thei1 \\c.1y is the besl \\ay.
of these Enrocruts arc [ust self-appointed, aren't
Jim c so;nc stories lo tell. So decision-m<:1king ccm he a little slm\ But, yes,
they? The. 've never had to go through an~ kind of
E l Im, quite a fc11, I'll never forget the time I was ultimate!:, lcc1ders lead and there's not much attempt
democratic election process
fl) ing in Asia and the ca bin crew asked me Lo sit on to re;_1ch COllSCl]Sl\S
C No, and that's how half of Europe has ended up
the toilet during take-off :,. 4.06
being gO\ cmcd h~ a bunch of unelected crvi]
A What? sen ants in Brussels'
Speaker 2 The Ce1 man promotwn s~1stem is
E Yeah, tlic~ wanted m~ seal next to the c11H:rgLnc~· d meritocratic, er,\' e promote cm merit and expertise,
exit.
B No, ifs not Ill\ tlnng at all, I'm afraid. and so senior management\\ ill usu all: coIJsist of the
A Doesn't inspire much confidence in the .urline. does
A Oh, but I thought it was marvellous! And il was so most C'\pcricnced and best-educated 1)eople - \ e~
il?
\\ell clone, Because it must hav e heen a \'er~· difficult often engineers, \\Iii ch is perhaps\\ h: Ge1 man
E Not a lot, no And then, to top it all, I ended up adaptation, don't x ou think? management tends to fmour logic and anal~sis.
sitting next to a gu~ with a rattlesnake in a basket! The standard procedure is that each manager in the
B Hin, ~ cah It went on a bit, though, didn't it? I mean,
A Good godl what \\'c.1s it, two and a half hours? hierarch~ \\ill guide th ctr 1mmec\i;_1te subordinate
E Yes, that's what I said. Apparcntlv, he just brought it cmd so on dm\ n the corporate p~ ramid to shopAoor
A \Veil, I found the" hole thrng absoluteh fantastic
on <JS h<.md luggage But crm, ~· did I ever tell you Brilliuutlv directed And the special cffccts v ere supen isors. I-lc_m e\ er, German managers do prefer to
about the time I \\<IS \\orking ill 0J1gena? get feedback from lhcir suhordinatcs before adopting
mcredibl~I
A No, I don't think so, a polic~1 ancl this can slm\ dm\ n the decision-making
B Yes,\\ ell, thcv were good, J'll admit, but the, 've
process.
E Well, er, you're not going to believe this, but w a\ all got those nm\acla~s, haven't they? I mean it's
back in 198) it was, I\\ as on this internal flight, all just CC! digital animation. Like all those sci-Ii, :; 4,07
right? And it \\<JS tlu'cc times overbooked. superhero things~·
Speaker 3 On the surface, consensus and agreement
A Three times?
amongst manJgemcnt is ,-er~· important in China
E Oh, ~ctih, that was quite common in those da~s- But B I'd realk appreciate it, because I'm just srnm eel \Ve m oid conflict. But behind the scenes, Chinese
you should have heard the argumenls al check-in under al the momcnt.w hat w ith all this backlog to manJge1s often exercise almost total control. Leaders
A I can imagine. deal v ith. of all businesses, not onh famih businesses, act as
E Anyway, in the end, the, brought the arm~ in to sort A Yes, I'm son~ to have dumped all that on vou, p<Jtri~nchs - sometimes bene\olent, sometimes not
it out Couldn't think of Jll)OllC else I could trust And w ith so! l\fan~ leaders knc communist pcir~ connections
A The arm~? the deadline coming up so fast ... Ha\ ing connections is \ital in China if~ ou \\;mt
E Yeah.And vou'H never guess what thcv did . B It's no problem, hut if you could let me borrow Kim to get things done. And so in mcJll)'\'a~s bosses are
for a couple of hours, I'm sure that together w e could like the old \\ arrior-leadcrs "110 used to run China.
A What'
polish the whole thing off that much foster There is a strict code of honmn <1mcmgstleaders \\ho
F: Tlrev made C\ er, one run round the aircraft h\ ice,
C You overworking this poor bov. Suzanne? That's ho-v often h<l\ e complici:ltcd alliances and associations In
A What on C<11th for? China \\C call Lhis guanxi~
she lost her last assistant manager, ~ OlJ know, Ian,
E So the. could gi\1e the scats to the fastest.
A You can't be serious!
A Oh, ignore Roger. I'll speak to Kirn about gi' ing ~cm
a h::111d as soon as \\ e get back to the office.
:i LLOB
E It's absolutclx true. B Thanks. Speaker 4 It's mtcrcsting. Japanese fl1ms do ha\C a
A And did ~ ou vin a scat? reputation for suppressing indi\ idual initiati\ e, for
f
bcmg collccli\ ist, putting group needs flrst. But
E Cortaiulv did I came third I was quite quick m C What on earth is this' this is on l~ p~ntl} true The Confucian s~ stem\\ c
those da~ s!
A You don't like it? Ifs one of m~ fcl\ ourites Lovclv inhcntcd from Chinc.1 rneans tlut \\C do imohe all
:) 4,(;J houquct. Fresh and frui~. le\ els in 1rn11iagcment lo some extent, Proposals
C Smells off to me mnst he apprm eel h~ all concerned This is the
:-L
A Nonsense! It's flnc. J(]pancsc practice of ringi-sho And this is the reason
A Ugh, isn't rt dreadful? And 11 c'd got plans for the \\ h~ decision-making is extreme I~ slow in Japanese
C Like somcthmg with a bit more hod~ to 1t, m~ self
'' eekend <JS \\ell Thonghl we might have some companies, The leader often steps hack from the
friends round for a barbecue B Hm, that's not at all bad
cla~-to-cla~ running of the compan~ lie is like a \Cr~
B Well, it's ah,ays the same, isn't il? You plan anything, A Sec' Ian likes it senior polit1ctan \\ho must rnti~ C\ er~ thing before
it al\\ a\ s lets \ ou dow n And it" as so fabulous C Hm All nght for lunch, I suppose But it's still too it can be implemented But once all formalities are
ycstcrdav, ~oung, if ~·ou ask me Could do\\ ith another couple completed,\\ e can implement\ er~ fasl!
C Yes, -o asn'f it? Ne\ LT would have thought it could of) cars m the bottle
turn so nast~ in just 24 hours. But that's Britain A Oh, don't be such a\\ inc bore, Roger. Get: ourself a ~4,09
for vou, I suppose Heatwave in the morning, ;1 glass of something else if ~nu don't like it. Speaker 5 OK, \\'ell, people think that in .\merica it's
elem npom 111 the afternoon and a h<m ling gale b~ C Thi;1k I" di _ all about incli\ icluahsrn. That's true up to a point
dinner time Blooch \\ calhcr! Historically, \\e\•c had to he prctt~ much self-reliant,
b so there's ~J certam amount of competition\\ ithin
15 FIRST AMONG EQUALS am "ork group to be the de facto leader of that
B I'm not sure this is quite 1 ight, is it?
A Jim' :i 4.04 group, 'kams arc Auid. There's 1i,alr~- _\lectings
arc livcl~t People \oice their opinions free]~. But
B This. ls it supposed to be like that' Looks a bit sogg'
The leaders in the photographs ha\ e nothing at all in there's quite a bit of control imposed from abm e as
to me.
common i11 tcn11s of background, beliefs, acl1ic\Tmcnts, \\ell, :\mcrican 11ia1iagcrs ha\'C to \\Ork \\itl1in fair!~
A Jim, \CS, it does a hit, It should be all crisp and managements~ le or persmul characteristics. Different tight constraints at times and follm\ skrndardizccl
golden, shouldn't it. the p.istrv? "Not \'Cr~ appetising circumstances also call for different kinds of leader, And procedures, produce endless 1eports~ Sure, top
at all And there's not a lot of it, is there? leaders rise and fall 1:1ccording to the political, cconom1c managers get to be I-loll~\\ ood heroes - until the~
B No, I thought it ctuu c with something else. Like a and moral cl1rnale of the times So, ultimate}~, all sere\' up Do thal once too oftcT1 ~mcl you simpl~
sick salad or something .. Ugh I The meat's as tough attempts to define the qualities of leadership arc a get fired, so there's little job sccurit~ This means
as old boots as w cl]! complete "aste of time~ there's \Cf) little lo~al~ from cmplo~ees either~ So
A Oh, dear I'd tell the waiter to take it hack, 1f I "ere The one thing these, and all other, lcaclcrs do lm·c part of a leader's job in the US is hasicall~ moti\ a ting
~OU •• m common is this: follm\ crs_ E, er~ one of them h<1s, ancl firing np the team ancl sending them off to get
or had, people prepared to follow them in one" a~ or the job done, like, no"'' Who knm\s 11hcrc \\c'll be
another A leader, therefore, is not\\ hat' ou are, but tomono\\?
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I
wanted
the Hamburg plant immediately.
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B Ncm, wait a minute. wait a minute. Surelv we can t\\o pluases ~Oll llCccl most of Ji! arc: ·If., then ')'
sort something out here. Rob, would you be willing If I gi1 c 1 ou that, then 11 hat do I get' ,-\11cl '\\'hat if
Extract I to meet us halfwav? ,,,?:What if 11c looked at this another 11<1)' \\'h;1t if
A OK, so, do I take it we're in agreement on volume? A Hoo do \10\l mean? \\ e did this instcc1cl7
B F.r, well, jusl a minute, wouldn't it he <l good idea to B \\'ell. if) ou were to offc1 us cm eight pc1 cent :4::p.
talk prices before w c go an~ further? discount. \\ e might be in a position to increase our
ender, sav , h~ fifh units. But we'd need to sec a bit Speaker 5 '[he ke1 skill in 11egotiating is the abilit'
A Yes, of course But in principle you're happy about
more flexibility on tci ms of pa~ ment. :\la~ be on to ask the right qlleslions - and ask lots of them. In
taking fort: cases, right?
installation costs too foct. there's an rnganisation e:1llccl the Hutlrnatle
B Er, well, in principle, v cs, if the product's as good as
A F1 tu. w cll. I suppose there ma~ be some room for ResGirch Croupt \\ho recorded hunch eels of
:ou sa~ it is.,
manoeuvre there. I'd need to check. Can )'OU gi' e negotiations ancl guess \\Jut tlic: found? 'Skilled
A Splendid, that's settled then. negotiators ;1sk more th;m h\ ice as 11u11~ questions
me a moment to have another look at the figures?
B , But, look, getting back to price for a moment. a:-. c_ncrage ncgotwlors.' So, lll) ach ice is: ph1•asc as
B Sure. In fact, let's take a short time-out, sh;:l!l \\ c?
This would be just a trial order. ~on understand? nun~ of ~our co111ments as possible as questions. You
And meet back here in, sav, ha lf an horn?
Sale or rchu u, Until \\'C sec hoc, it sells So, can vou don't understand something? Don't S<l) ~011 don't
give us some idea of'' hat kind of figllrc ~ ou were A OK, fine. unclcl"stancl - ~on'\\ look stupid Ask <1 q11cstion -
thinking of? C I still S<l) we'd he better off going\\ ith ~lagrn1sson's. :ou'll look intelligent Y(rn strollgl~ clisag1·ce? Drni't
A cso sa: ~on shongl: disagree- the:']] think :cm'1c being
r4.20 cliFflcult \sk (l question - the: 'II think ~ou'rc tr:ing
B €)11 per case
Speaker] :..Like ~our prior ifics clear before :011 hcgill, to be helpful You ha'c a good idea? Don't sa: :ou
A Er, no Pei pack
that's mv ach ice I ah, avs sav remember to check ha\'C a good iclca - tlic~ '\] \\ ish il was their idea ·\sk
B Per pack? There seems to have been a slight
v out tic. "Not the one \C~ll \\~e:n round \O\Ir neck. a question. The: 'll lhink it \\as their idea. Keep those
misnnclerstancling, .\pack is just twelve hottlcs,
right'
1 our TICE, 'T' stands 'ror
'tradeables' i"hcse <Ire the qucstiolls coming <illcl don't tc_ikc 'no' for an <lllS\\ er!
tlungs ~ou'll take if ~0\1 can get them. but the, 're
A Yes, that's righL not that important to )"OU and) ou'Il concede them :4.:!5
B Is this meant to he some kind of joke or something? if it helps :·ou to push the negotiation Forn ard T A 'k,ss?
€Sil per pack? That's over €-+a bottle B1• the lime stuucls for 'ideals'. These arc the things vou'd real!: B :\Ir Logan It's Ko1te omcl \lilcs to sec \Oil
we've added a decent margin, ~011 realise we're like lo gel and will fight to get. but not if it costs vou
looking at <l retail price of €7 minimum, I lcm1 nm I A \h, good Send them right in
the deal Final!~, and most import.mtlv. 'E' stands
supposed to .~ell a one-litre bottle of water for C/, ?\Ir for 'essentials' It's not that these are absolute). non- C Iii, Ro11nie.
Koivisto? negotiable. E1en thing's negotiable. But if it l;JOks A Kate, good to sec )Oll You're looking great as us1wl
A ?vis Barrett. 0-Zone is an innovative. premium like ~ ou ·1 e not going to get) Olli essentials. th ell tlwfs i\.liles, come on in Rough night. huh? Frm, sit
product A pure ox~gcn-cnriched drink We're not the time to start thinking about\\ alking Cl\\ a:
from <lll~" he1e: 011 like_ Call I get :·ou a beer?
bilking about a bottle of Perrier here the ncgotit1ting table C It's a lilllc earh for me, Ronnie Do' m1 hen com
B Well, that's as IIJ<l) be, hut f:/I E, iall or somL:thing?
:1L;•·1
A 0-Zonc is <Ill exciting opportunitv to get ill at the A i\o problem Thc1'c ~ou go \lilcs?
start of a new trend in lu\:ur~ health ch inks. Speaker 2 \.\'ell. frank!~, I get a hit tired of hea1 mg D I::r. don 'l think I could face <ill) thing 1 ight 110\\, man.
people go on about\\ in-\\ in negotiating I mc;m,
B \Veil. there's no '''-l) on earth I'm pa: ing :ou C4 A ?\o. :011 certain]: don't look as though yoll could
let's face it a lot of negotiations are hasic1ll: \\in- So.,) ou two lwd quite ;-m l'\'cning <1t the .\.larquee,
for a bottle of O\:) gcnatcd '' atcr, Mr Koivisto. With .'.O
respect, your prices arc simplv not competitive lose. and) om opponent's interests arc the last thin£; I hear.
~ ou shoul<l he worr~ ing about Bu: ing a hou::,c, a
A ?-vis Barrett, there <He no competitors in this market. D You coulcl sa1 tlwt
car, double-glazing - all\\ in-lose situations .·.:\ml
0-Zone is a unique product and at €4 - well, I'm C Ronnie,: OLI ha\ e lo sign this b;n1cl. l'ou coulcl kucll:
: ou'd be surprised hm, mcm: business negotiations
afraid that rcallv is our absolute bollom line. mmc for ,-\&R p<:oplc List rnght. If \\e do11't snap
arc h<1sic:i!ly one-off deals as\\ c!L In m~ opinioll. in
H So vourc Si:!) illg it's take it or leave it? a\\ in-lose situation the tougher) m1 are - \\ ithout
them up, someone else\\ ill I SJ\\ Ju11m: .--\rmstrong
A I'm afraid so <1cttull~ being aggrcssi'e - the further :·ou'll get from Som· sniffing around.
B Well, then, I think I'll hav c to leave it Thc1t's becrnse your opponent tc1kes :~our attitude as A Uh huh Well, he mnalh is
A \Vhc1 ? Noo , just ;1 minute. You saicl on the phone an indication of\\ hat's possible and "hat's not~ And C Yeah. ;mcl Li\ II" ere there <Is 11 ell. This bancl's hot.
:·ou might want 1()() cases the frie11cllic1 )OU seem, the higher their C\:pcctations You listened to tlie demo I sclll \Ott, right?
\\1ill be It's like the old sa: ing: gi' e them an inch A lclid.
B That c as he fore l kucw v our v, atcr \\ as more
-!•,·- ·"·"
and the1-'ll take a mile C ,\nd'
expensive them Chardonnav, \Ir Koivisto. OK. look,
let's set the price issue to one side for the moment, .... A Well.
shall we? Tell me a hit more about the product . C Oh. come on, Ronnie, These guys ~11c tlie best thing
Speaker 3 'You aha:s kiHn\ \\lio is going to \\ill a
:: LL'\';! to come oul of Ireland since ll::Z cmd ~ 011 kll(m it
negotiation - it's hen ho pauses the longest.' I forget
wlio it\\ as" ho se:ud tli<1t but ifs prct~ good ach ice -
A I \\otilchi'tgo as far as that, Kale. The1 sound a little
Extract 2 inconsistent 011 the tape The) need to\\ ork on a
A OK, I'll tell) ou "hat I'll do, If) ou order 2 ill units
basicall), shut up! And rememhe1 that silence is\ er:
clear musical iclclltihr. if \"011 <lsk me,
often ~our best\\ capon Ifs a \er: difficult argument
today, I can offct ~ ou not our usual fi, c hut a si-c pc1 C Well, nm be thc1 need <I little help in that direction
to counter Faced\\ ith prolonged ancl u11comfortahlc
cent discount. free deliver, and I'll throw in twelve \Ve can \\ork 011 tlut. Rut )CHI ha\e lo c1clmit the
:-.dcnces, ~our opponent is liable lo make another
months' free parts and sen ice as w c!L Now. I can't
say fairer than that, no" can I? Of course, tlwt's
concession or gi\ e <1\\ a:
their stratcg~ or'\ eaken lc11cl singer's voice is j11st amazing In fact, the} 're
their 0\\ n position b) becoming defcnsi\ c, So pL1) music.all: rcall~ strong all rmmd.
onl, if )'OU can gi' e me the order todav Can't hold
) ol!r cards close to: our chest. 'Eilk less. learn more A OK, I'll gi1e 1011 lhaL.\parl fiom the diummer, that
the offer, I'm afraid
The1e's an old Swedish prmerh: "l~ilking is sihc1. is. who's prctt:· sccornl-ratc So he'd lia\ c to go
B Well, crrn, Robert, isn't it' But listening is gold· C She
A Rob. Call me Rob.
B \Vcll, now, Roh, \\C appreciate the Free SCI\ ice and
:£!.,;:::: A She! Tlic\ lia\c a fc1nale clr11mmer? lnlcresting
\\'ell, an~\\ a~1, she's no good.
deli. ery, but to be honcst w ith \ ou, what we'd really Speaker 4 I thmk the biggest trap less e'perieneecl C Conld be trich to fire. She's the lead singe I's
like to sec is a bit more movement on price I'm negotic1tors foll into is to trn'11 the\\ hole negotiation girlfriend_
afraid a six P"! cent discount is not quitc « hat '' c mto a <lebate, "hich it isn't. This is sometimes called
A H111 I'm going off them alieacl}.
had in mind \Ve" ere hoping for smncthing a bit "positional negotiating. Both sicks encl up arguing
closer to ten C Rmlllic, hclic\c me. 'I he Penitents arc a class c1cL
the\\ h~s and the wherefores, rationalising their
\nd l'm not c;1sil) imp1c~sccl. ~011 kll(m that
A Ten per cent? I don't think I could stretch as far as position, tr: ing to jush~ themsch cs, It's a cornplcll'
that I\ot unless this -o as a substautmllv bigger order, \\'Jstc of time, Yo11 '1 c no~ there to crnl\'incc 'orn A True, \ou'rc not. :\Jiles. meet the \\Om:in \\ho turned
opponent that: ou 're right He doesn't care if: cm 're cl<mnOasis.
C Oh. come on! You'll have to do a lot bcttci than
that. :'vlr Ha~ cs, You're not the onl-, precision tool right or not And neither should ~-ou. You're there D fine h~ me. I nc\ er liked tlic111
manufactm ct , \OU kno-v to explore both sides' interests. generate options cmd C I thought \\C \\eren'l going to talk ;1hout that any
B Hold on, Cai in. Let's hear Rob out. trnde coneL·ssions - prcfcrabl: gi\ mg a\\ a~ things that \ll()]C
mean little to ~ou but a lot to him and recci\ i11g the A OK, OK_ Well, 11 hat do The Penitrnts look like' :-O:o,
C \Veil, franklv, l think we're \\asting each other's time
opposite in retLirn This is 'mlerest-bascd negotiation' let me guess Lik<: the~ ha\ en't eaten 01 hot meal for <l
here We've .rlrcudy been offered a much better deal
- discm ering the needs, desires cmd fca1 s heh incl \\eek and cut their 0\\ n hc1i1, 1 ight?
h~ .:\lagnusson 's.
~our opponent's position and "orking on those. The
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C Not at all The lead guitarist looks like Keanu impossible - like flying pigs Really big changes, says Now, this STEP analysis is conclucte<l in the
Reeves, The drummer's fabulous even if her Taleb, are like black swans - random and unpredictable context of competitive trends. What are our clients'
drumming's a little off In fact, they're all pretty - but once they've happened we rationalise how they competitors doing? How might the very structure of
glamorous Ronnie, I have a good feeling about this did Humans have a tendency to make far too many the industry change and how would our clients react
one assumptions based on what they think they know If to that? Would they be able to react? We also need
A OK, call their manager and set something up. But what we imagine will happen makes a good story, we to take account of our clients' customers and their
not next week. I'm at the MTV awards begin to believe it, when the only thing we should really needs If the customer is king, what is the customer
C OK, I'll do that Oh, and by the way, you might want expect is the unexpected. going to be demanding?
to tune in to VH I at eight this evening. They're And trend-spotting can be misleading Consider this Finally, we need to think the unthinkable Is
being interviewed live. When Elvis Presley died in I 977, there were just thirty- there anything on the horizon that could really
A They are? Well, why didn't you say so before? Look, seven Elvis impersonators in the world By 1995 there revolutionise or destroy our clients business? Maybe
give me their manager's number, I might just call were 48,000, an exponential increase, to be sure But not today or even tomorrow, but sooner than we'd
him myself this afternoon .. if that trend had continued, today one in every three like We call these issues 'long fuse, big bang' issues,
people in the world would be an Elvis impersonator! They may not happen for a while, but if and when
Still, provided you don't mind coming back as a hard they do, they could be explosive! For instance, a
18 THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO disc, the promise of digital immortality is difficult to cure for cancer would obviously save the lives of
COME refuse In the words of Woody Allen: 'I don't want to millions and make billions for the pharmaceutical
achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve company that developed it, but would it have such
~4.26 it by not dying', a positive effect on the healthcare industry or the
manufacturers of radiotherapy equipment? What
Welcome to the In Company Business Podcast. You're if the USA literally went bust? What if China had
listening to Future World This week's sound bite: CASE STUDY: THE FUTURE'S another revolution?
Artificial Intelligence: I'll be back UNWRITTEN Now, the best place to begin to look for the future
We've heard it all before Ninety per cent of all scientists is at the cutting edge of the present, so here's an
who have ever lived are alive now, There is more ~4.27 activity for you to get you thinking along the right
microchip technology in the average family car than lines Have a look at this chart This is an overview
there was in the first Apollo spacecraft to take men to Alison Good morning everyone, Welcome to
of an industry analysed according to the factors we've
the moon. The electronic singing birthday card you Futurescape and the wonderful world of
been talking about. It's really like taking an industry
can buy at any newsagent is technically superior to all management consulting! I'm Alison Fielding, head
snapshot to get the big picture What I'd like you to
the computers on earth in 1950 put together Global of training and development I'll be coaching you
take a few minutes to do is to consider the industry
computing power is now greater than the combined through your first six months with the company,
you have most experience in and complete the chart,
intelligence of every human being on the planet. And, which as you know is probational, but we hope and
adding, eliminating or changing things whenever
according to Moore's Law, the amount of information expect that most of you will be staying with us long
you need to. Then turn to people around you and
you can store on a microchip is doubling every two into the future!
compare your snapshots, discussing how these may
years, So, at that rate, within a few decades we'll be Now, as you know, you were selected for both your affect the outlook for your respective industries And
demoted to world's second most intelligent species At business acumen and industry experience, so all then we'll pool our ideas OK, let's take a time-out to
least, that's the opinion of some of the world's leading I'm going to <lo this morning is just briefly talk you do this
scientists at companies like Intel and Microsoft, Perhaps through the scenario planning procedure that we use
we should be asking the computers what they think here and then set a little exercise for you! ~4.28
But will computers ever be able to truly think? Isn't Scenario planning was really pioneered by the oil Ivan Hi there. It's Ivan I was hoping to catch you
artificial intelligence a contradiction in terms? The giant, Royal Dutch Shell, in the early 60s Using before you left the office. Listen, I've got an
painter Pablo Picasso summed it up best when he the technique, they were able to foresee the energy appointment with an important new client in a
said: 'Computers are useless They can only give you crises of I 973 and I 979, the move towards energy few clays and I'd like to be able to send them some
answers: conservation in the 80s, the evolution of the global kind of brief industry report before we meet You
One person who would certainly disagree with that environmental movement in the 90s and even, it know, a bit of free inside-information, something
sentiment is Dr Ian Pearson, head of the futurology seems, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the break-up to get our meeting off to a productive start. It just
unit at British Telecom, In fact, some of his predictions of the Soviet Union - all years before they actually so happens you have the most experience of the
sound like science-fiction. In an interview with The happened, business they're in, which is why I'm asking for
Observer newspaper, Pearson explained: 'If you draw the Our aims are a little more modest, but only a little your help Could you and your team sift through
timelines, realistically, by 2050 we would expect to be We aim, by putting huge amounts of data into some of our general scenario files and decide what
able to download your mind into a machine, so when sophisticated computer models and then interpreting might be relevant to them? Put that together with
you die, it's not a major career problem', According to that data, to build up different pictures of how the the industry snapshot you produced for us the other
the applied mathematician and theoretical physicist, world may look ten, twenty or even thirty years day and see if, between you, you can come up with
poorer people may have to wait until the procedure from now and how that world may impact on the an executive summary of trends and developments
becomes routine around 2080, but the brain-imaging way our clients do business- Clem Sunier, head of that may affect them in the next five to ten years? A
technology will be in place well before then. 'Forty-five scenario planning at Anglo American Corporation, couple of hundred words should do it. But, er, you
years' he reminds us, 'is a hell of a long time in IT'. said 'scenarios are to organisations what radar is to know, make it look good, OK? No dull stuff That'd
But Pearson's next prediction is even more incredible. a pilot' and I think that's a great way of putting it be great. Thanks
'We're already looking at how you might structure Most executives are more concerned with the next
a computer that could possibly become conscious' quarterly report than with the long term, but we take
he reveals. 'There are quite a lot of us who believe the opposite view. It's our job to see the threats and
it's entirely feasible Information comes in from the opportunities for our clients long before they do and
outside world but also from other parts of your brain alert them to them before it's too late,
and each part processes it on an internal sensing basis One way we do this is by carrying out a STEP
Consciousness is just another sense, effectively, and analysis 'STEP' stands for the sociological,
that's what we're trying to design into a computer. Not technological, economic and political forces that
everyone agrees, but it's my conclusion that it is possible shape our clients' businesses. Here's how it works , __
to make a conscious computer with superhuman levels For example, under sociological change we might
of intelligence by 2020.' Diel he say 2020? By his own consider the impact of longer life expectancies
admission, Pearson is 'in the 30-40% that believes and an ageing population ls youth going to matter
there's really nothing magical about the human brain' any more? Under technological development we
And, anyway, as he's quick to point out, 'part of my job could speculate about advances in biotech and
description is to get into trouble , We're supposed to virtual reality- would they be a good thing or a
be thought-leaders' bad thing, not in themselves, but for our clients'
But not everyone has Pearson's faith in trends and businesses? Under economic climate we'll want to
statistics In his runaway bestseller Black Swan, business try and read the cycle of boom and recession and
professor and ex-derivatives specialist Nassim Taleb the international flow of capital. And under political
points out that most experts know a lot less than they factors we'll obviously need to look at things like
think they do The book is called Black Swan because regulations, taxes and who's going to get elected, but
until the discovery of black swans in Australia in the also, these days, environmental pressure groups and
I 8th century, they were regarded as self-evidently terrorist threats